A Changed Destiny
by Kaito Lune
Summary: Frontier AU. What if Koichi had made it to the elevator instead of Koji? Would Duskmon be there? Would Lobomon? Could Koichi help save the world from Darkness, not realizing that he had taken his brother's destiny instead? *COMPLETE*
1. Prologue

**A/N: Okay, okay. I know I have several other stories I have to work on but I _really _want to write this. Updates are going to be done sparingly, every two weeks or so (hopefully). This story is in the process of being planned out. The title basically tells what the story is about. _A Changed Destiny_ is basically another AU to the fourth season, centering around the main Frontier kids but with a twist: What if Koichi had made it to the elevator instead of Koji? What if Koji made it to the Digital World a different way? Would Duskmon be there? Would Lobomon? Could Koichi save the world from Darkness with the others, not realizing that he had taken his brother's destiny instead? I'll take some elements from Tamers and Adventure a bit. I'll explain that more in chapters two and five. Anyway, enjoy.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Prologue: Fall of Light

A crumbling world was hanging to a single hope. With its three rulers either resting, kidnapped, or corrupted, Ophanimon had no choice but to turn to the world next door for help. Their five Spirits had been scattered only months before, after Cherubimon's disappearance. A Shamanmon that foretells the future had warned them to do so. The five Spirits would return to their natural homes on their own, since the will of the Ten Legendary Warriors to return home to keep themselves hidden. They would have released the other five, but Cherubimon had taken them when he disappeared. At that time, neither of the two angels knew that he had betrayed them.

Now, the last of the great Angels that could fight was captured with little power left. Her cage kept her from flying off. Ophanimon had given her freedom so that Seraphimon might have a chance to defeat him but he was now locked away in a crystal and the keys scattered. Their only hope was for someone to find the Spirits and use those as keys to release him from his slumber.

Remembering the other world that hadn't been touched by the Digital World in years, she concentrated her energy to sending out a cry for help.

X::::::::::X

The boy of eleven had little time to respond to the call.

Koji Minamoto had been getting flowers for his father and stepmother's third anniversary, even though he still didn't like her that much and he still hated his father for forgetting about his mother, Koji decided to give his stepmother a chance. Just as he was about to pay for the bouquet, a message alert made him fish his black flip phone out of his pocket. He read the message, telling him to take the train heading towards Shibuya station but he noticed he only had fifteen minutes to make it there.

"Here you go," said the clerk behind the counter ready to hand him the flowers. "That'll be a thousand yen*."

Koji looked back at her for a split second, deciding whether or not to take the message or just ignore it. Deciding on the former, he began backing out of the building. "Can you please hold those?" he asked. "I'll be back for them later." Before the clerk could respond, he had bolted out of the room, heading towards the designated train station.

Normally, he wouldn't have made such a rash decision but there was something about this message. Something about destiny and finding something that was missing. Something other than his common sense wanted him there. All Koji could think it could be was a feeling that if he didn't take this, he would miss out on something forever.

X::::::::::X

That late Saturday afternoon was warm and sunny. Barely any clouds could be seen in the sky.

He had been on his way home after visiting his late grandmother's grave when he noticed a blue blur pass on the other side of the street. Koichi Kimura recognized the boy right away. Without thinking, Koichi ran across the busy street and almost got hit. His heart pounded from the near death experience but continued running, saying a quick apology to the driver and continued running after the boy.

Koichi was hot on his trail, only a few yards behind him. He wasn't exactly built for running but adrenaline gave Koichi enough energy to keep running after his target. _I have to tell him today, _he thought to himself. _What other chances can I get to tell my brother that I exist?_ Only the week before, Koichi learned that he had a twin. Ever since, he had been shadowing the boy. Like a wasp to a fire, he stayed close behind but never had the courage to go into the flames and stayed in the shadows.

Today, though, Koichi felt that today would be different. It had to be. Koichi just hoped he didn't screw it up because of his shyness and want to avoid contact. His grandmother used to joke that he was more like a rabbit than a rooster. He pushed the urge to shed tears for her so he could keep an eye on his twin. Koichi stopped for a second, seeing where he had been lead to. "A train station?" he whispered to himself before snapping back into reality. Koji had just bought a ticket for a train.

Unfortunately, Koichi didn't catch which one had been chosen. He began trying to figure as he placed a hand on the machine. The machine seemed to activate on its own and eject a ticket. Koichi wasn't sure if this was the same destination as his brother but a sudden urge screamed for him to take it and race for the train. The boy grabbed the ticket before running into the station after checking which one it was.

Seconds later, a brown haired boy had made it to the machine and began checking his pockets. After an unsuccessful attempt in finding money but a little slack given to him, the brown haired boy took off in the same direction as the two prior boys had.

X::::::::::X

Koichi had almost squeezed into the car where his brother was at but the crowd had pushed him to the train car right in front of that one. Koichi stood standing at the back of the isle and watched his brother through the windows. He kept his head down so that his blue baseball cap shadowed his face. Koichi's younger twin, Koji Minamoto, wore his usual tan slacks and light yellow shirt under a blue sports jacket. His long hair was held back in a ponytail and his head was covered by a dark blue and gold headband. He was looking out the window that he stood in front of.

Just before the train took off, a boy with messy brown hair wearing a yellow shirt, red short sleeve jacket, and brown cargo pants came running in before having the doors close on him. The brown haired boy adjusted his hat and goggles before pointing to his phone and saying something. At first, Koichi thought that these two were friends but Koji didn't respond so the boy decided that there was no way for those two to know each other.

Koichi heard the ringing from people's phones all at once. He could hear the message of boarding a train in the basement of Shibuya Station by six. This made the brown haired boy exclaim something while grabbing his head. Koichi couldn't help but giggle slightly. It was rather funny even when Koji gave the boy a death glare.

X::::::::::X

The train had come to a stop. Koichi was just about to go after his brother as he exited the train but someone had gotten in Koichi's way. When he exited, Koji had been lost in the sea of people in the train station. Koichi ran after him until he disappeared. The boy found himself at the elevators and the stairs but there was no long haired boy in sight.

_Maybe he took the elevator already, _he thought. He pressed the down button. It dinged open and walked into the elevator. He scanned the buttons and picked to bottom most floor's button. As the elevator's doors closed, Koichi only had a few seconds to squeeze to the side as a boy literally flew through the closing doors, milliseconds from having it close on his foot.

He landed, face planted into the wall. The boy, Koichi noticed, was the same one from the train. The brown haired boy rubbed his face and groaned before noticing Koichi with wide eyes and a surprised look on his face.

The boy made a strange face, as if not understanding why the dark haired one was plastered to the wall as if not wanting to be seen. "Hey, did you get a message too?" he asked.

Koichi hadn't yet gotten over the shock of seeing him fly through the closing elevator doors and remained unresponsive.

"Okay, not much of a talker," he said to himself before looking around the compartment. Suddenly, it began to speed up on its descent. Koichi finally pulled himself from the wall and looked out the window as the elevator went downwards past the indicator of B2.

"Oh, my destiny's really starting to bite," the boy moaned. "First, nearly getting run over by a truck, nearly missing the train, nearly getting crushed; now I'm going to die in an elevator. Just great!"

Koichi began to feel uncomfortable with the boy's streak. _Is he really as accident prone as I am? _he thought worriedly.

Fortunately for the two of them, the elevator didn't crash but came to a sudden stop at the bottom, nearly sending Koichi to his knees. The doors opened and both boys looked out at the area beyond the doors. Before them, a dome shaped room with crystal walls was filled with various tunnels with the cabooses of different trains that seemed almost ready to leave. Kids checking cell phones or getting aboard a train were everywhere. Crystal clocks hovered between every platform indicating the time of nearly six.

The boy stood up and looked at his cell phone. A voice came from it, much like the one he had heard on the train. "It's up to you now," the female voice said. "Which will you choose?"

Both looked around, unsure of where they should go. One to the far right caught Koichi's attention. He ran to board it. _That one maybe?_

X::::::::::X

Takuya Kanbara ran towards the train right in front of him. He had barely made it in time to grab hold of it and pull himself onto the back end before the platform ended and the tracks began. Before entering the tunnel, he saw the boy in the elevator watch as Takuya got on.

The boy held on tightly to his blue baseball cap so it wouldn't fly off his dark blue hair. He had worn a purple long sleeve shirt under a teal vest and tan pants. He seemed to be holding his breath until Takuya glanced up at him. The boy gave a sigh of relief and smiled. Takuya returned it before a tunnel wall cut each other from their views.

For a split second, the brown haired boy could have sworn that he was the same boy from the train. _But that guy had longer hair and seemed more . . . cold,_ he thought to himself before walking into the compartment.

X::::::::::X

Koji had no idea how he had ended up there. He didn't even remember how he ended up asleep. "Where am I?" he wondered aloud. The area around him seemed condensed somehow but wasn't at the same time. There seemed to be no floor below him but he was still suspended from falling somehow. The area around him was a strange mix of green, black, and purple.

He looked around, unsure of what was going on when suddenly pictures started floating across the vacant area. One was of his father, telling him that his mother had died when he was only three but said that he couldn't visit her grave since she didn't have one. That was the only memory from his childhood that stuck out like a beacon in a blurred storm. The anger and hate was filling him from that memory.

Then another flashed across the empty area. It was his stepmother, Satomi, when she was first introduced as a new member of the family. "Treat her like your mother," his father had insisted.

"She isn't even my mother," Koji growled under his breath. A third memory of him being tormented for being new. Koji clutched his hands together. A fourth: moving. A fifth: not being able to attend his grandmother's funeral since she lived in a different area.

Out of frustration, he screamed, "Who's messing with me?!"

Suddenly, something began pulling him downwards until he was in a new area. He finally landed on the ground. Behind him, he saw a spinning globe that looked like it was missing parts of it. The area around him was entirely black and filled with fog.

Two figures, obscure in the darkness were standing before him. One was in the shape of a grown woman and the other was about the size of a boy his age with short hair. Koji blinked. "Who-?" he asked but they disappeared before him.

"Koji, why do you have to hang onto the past?" an emotionless voice echoed though the area. "Tomoko is dead. Can't you just accept that? Satomi is your mother now."

Koji clenched his teeth and spun around, screaming, "SHUT UP!" Realizing that he was alone, Koji sunk to his knees, clutching his head. "Can't he see how much I'm sick of this?!"

"I can," said a booming voice from behind him. Koji felt a shiver run up his spin. "Your rage, your hate, your sadness, your secret loneliness; I can feel it all. It's thick as the darkness in the clouded sky, so thick in your heart."

Koji looked straight ahead. "Darkness?" he asked, confused by what the voice meant.

"Yes," answered the voice, as if pleased by the boy's confusion. "It's exactly what I've been looking for."

Koji spun around and shouted angrily, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" There was no one behind him. Instead a small statue dual headed beast with an eye on each shoulder and foot and one right in the middle of his torso. Its red eyes were shinning brightly as they seemed to bore into the boy's own eyes. Blood red energy seemed to resonate upwards from it like a hellfire.

"I'm someone who understands you. I'm someone who wants to set you free. I'm someone who wants to help you release the darkness in your heart," the voice answered. "Take the Spirit of Darkness and release all your hate and anger. You'll gain power as you loose yourself in the darkness. All you have to do is accept."

And that was the last thing that Koji remembered before going out.

Chapter 1: End.

***I'm using yen in this instead of dollars since IT TAKES PLACE IN JAPAN! Unlike some other writers, I won't use Japanese words or honorifics. Zoe will speak Italian but well see it in a translation in parentheses, "[like so]". This shall save me from trying to horribly translate what she says and save anyone that knows Italian from shooting me.**

**Well, even more weird stuff. If no one caught the Chinese zodiac reference, I'll explain it. Those born in the year of the Rooster are normally arrogant, selfish, and courageous but the year of the Rabbit likes to avoid conflict and is pleasant. Koichi here is depicted as having more of the qualities of the Rabbit than the Rooster (his birth year). I'm making assumptions that Koji, Koichi, Takuya, and Zoe are born around 1993 and that the story takes place in 2004.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. I may upload sooner than I think but expect updates every two weeks. See ya then!**


	2. Chapter 1: In Visible Light

**A/N: Well, since this an AU to the Frontier storyline, there will be a little repetition in the story but I add my own twists. That means certain events will be out of order, not entirely there, or twisted. :P That's what you get when you switch two very different people in very different roles. This first few chapters will mirror the first five episodes rather closely until about chapter . . . what was it? Chapter three? Yeah, major compression of 10 episodes into the first eight chapters **_**and **_**I'm leaving out like three out. This may be mainly centered around our favorite set of twins but I'm not going to put JP, Takuya, Zoe, and Tommy on the back burners now. They'll get their turns.**

**Anyway, sorry about the ever long author's notes. I'll try to keep these down to the best of my ability. Like an idiot, I forgot the disclaimer. I'll be sure to put it up every chapter from here-on in.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier or any of the references made.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 1: In Visible Light

Koichi could hardly wrap his brain around what he saw out the window. Floating ghost-like creatures were everywhere, the odd black and grey device that appeared in his hands, and riding a train over _nothing_ had destroyed the shock of being thrown around on the ride through the pitch black tunnels. Shielding his eyes from the harsh change of light, he looked through the window pane and watched the nothingness below drop like it had no bottom. He shivered and walked away from the wall.

He sank to the floor and looked at his weird device. _"Welcome to the Digital World, Koichi Kimura. This is your D-tector."_ That had been what the voice from his D-tector had said. _How did she know my name? Who was that even? Was she the same person who sent those messages to Koji and that one boy? And what's the Digital World? Why do I even have this "D-tector"?_

Eventually, the train pulled into a small platform made with steel pipes and flames seen from small windows to furnances, making the room a little too warm for the dark haired boy. The doors opened. Koichi pocketed the "D-tector" and looked outside. Various small creatures were standing outside. Some looked like balls with hand-like ears; others were pink birds half his height, small plant-like creatures with flowers on its heads, and small ghost-like creatures like he had seen before the train stopped.

Shock could be read on his face. He blinked and did a double-take. Yep, these things weren't part of a dream. He was frozen in shock for the second time in an hour.

"Are you getting off any time soon?" asked a voice.

Startled, Koichi jumped and fell out the train car, landing on his side. He looked around for the voice but saw no humans around. Where had the voice come from?

"Well, finally," grumbled the voice. It had come from the front of the train. A pair of eyes looked back at him from the head of the red train. "I can _finally _get out of here."

"It . . . it talks," Koichi stuttered.

The talking train rolled its eyes. "Of course we talk," he said, a bit annoyed. "Haven't you seen a Trailmon talk before?"

"Trailmon?" Koichi asked, even more confused.

"Yeah," answered the Trailmon. "We trains that roam the Digital World are the Trailmon. I'm Franken the Trailmon. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get going. I have a nap and some cleaning scheduled soon." Franken began pulling out of the station backwards. "Don't go breaking him."

Seeing him leave, Koichi began getting up. "Wait! How do I get home?" he shouted after him as he ran along with it.

"What do you mean, human? Find a Spirit, that'll get ya home," Fraken told him.

Suddenly, the platform ended but Koichi hadn't seen till it was too late. He screeched to a stop at the edge but inertia kept going, threatening to make him fall into the abyss. Just before going over the edge, something like rope had wrapped themselves around Koichi's stomach, arms, and legs. Koichi was abruptly pulled backwards and landed on his behind, safe from falling off the edge. Adrenaline coursed through his body as he caught his breath.

As he breathed heavily, the ropes loosened and fell away. Several of the creatures ran, bounced, or floated to him. One of the ghost-looking creatures landed on his leg, one of the pink birds followed one of the small ball-like creatures, and two of the plant looking creatures came up behind him. "That was a close one!" sighed the plant creatures with a distinct girl's voice.

"Do humans fly?" asked the ghost-like creature to the pink bird.

"You stupid?" laughed the small ball. "I don't see any wings on this _thing_." The creature said "thing" as if he hadn't liked them all that much.

"Pagumon!" scolded the small bird creature to the small ball that she called Pagumon as if she was a mother figure to it. "We have to be more considerate of this human. It came for something, just like the others. There must be a reason they came."

Pagumon just made an "hmph" noise and went on its way.

"You can talk?" breathed Koichi.

The three remaining creatures nodded. "We're Digimon, we all can talk," answered the small pink bird. "I'm a Biyomon. They're Palmon and this little guy is Poyomon."

"Digimon? What are those?"

"We are, silly," giggled a Palmon.

"We're the creatures that inhabit the Digital World but not all of them look as good as me. Some are really nasty, like that Pagumon," added the second Palmon.

Koichi nodded as he finally calmed down and stood up slowly. _So, I'm in a new world filled with these creatures called Digimon. Are they all this small?_ The ghost-like "Digimon" floated into his hands.

"What's your name?" asked the Poyomon.

"Koichi," he answered.

"Koichi . . . mon?" asked the Poyomon with wide child innocent eyes. Koichi couldn't help but burst into giggles as he corrected the little creature. Even though Koichi, Biyomon, and the two Palmon tried to explain to the little thing, it didn't understand. Koichi couldn't help but think it would be such like an extremely young child.

"You mentioned there being other humans?" he asked. Poyomon gave him a wide grin.

"Yes! There were four of them here earlier! They returned the forest," exclaimed Poyomon excitedly.

"Four?" Koichi asked, slightly giddy. Was there a chance that Koji was here? "Was there one that looked like me? Long dark hair and wears a bandana." He said it in a bit of a rush.

All of them shook their heads. Koichi sighed and nodded. Poyomon floated out of his hands to the ground with a sad look on its face. Suddenly, he remembered that there were other trains. Maybe there was more than one station? "Thanks anyway." He began walking out of the train station into the main part of the village filled with dome shaped homes. Several creatures looking like the Pagumon and Poyomon were going around their daily lives.

A strange beeping caught his attention. Pulling out his D-tector, Koichi saw a GPS like map appear out of the D-tector's screen. A little dot blinked in the upper corner. "What's this?" Koichi glanced down at the projection and blinked.

He then could hear a voice echoing from the device. "Koichi Kimura, commence your search," commanded the voice.

"Search? Search for what?" Koichi asked. "Who are you anyway?"

"The Spirit."

"Spirit?" Koichi remembered that the Trailmon had said that he needed to find the Spirit to get back home. "What's a Spirit? How do you know my name, miss?" There was no answer. Koichi sighed.

"Find the Spirit and you may find what you're looking for."

_Find what I'm looking for? _"You mean my brother? You know where my brother is? Please tell me!" There was no answer for several minutes. Koichi sighed again. _I guess I should follow this to find this so called "Spirit",_ he thought to himself. He began to walk and search for the "Spirit".

X::::::::::X

Two humans walked towards the Flame Village. One was about twelve and a bit heavy-set. His brown eyes were staring straight ahead. A younger boy of eight walked right next to him.

"This place sucks," Junpei Shibayama said as he and Tomoki Himi walked back into the Flame Village, full of the creatures called Digimon. "Sucks to the very core. You with me, kid?"

Tommy cast his dark green eyes to the ground and frowned. He adjusted his giant orange hat on top of his messy brown hair. "I guess so," he answered, "but . . ."

JP stopped in his tracks with Tommy and looked down at him with a frown. "'But?' But what?" he asked, almost a little demanding.

"Well, when Takuya turned into a Digimon, he was so much like a super hero," exclaimed Tommy, holding his green and ice blue D-tector before him. "It was awesome!"

JP rolled his eyes. "He wasn't that great. What's so cool about turning into a Digimon?" he groaned. "I mean, really!"

Tommy still had a sparkle in his eyes. "I think it was cool!" he insisted, dropping his D-tector to his side. "I've always wanted to be a super hero!"

JP sighed, shaking his head. _He just doesn't get it._ "There's nothing cool about being a hero, kid. Trust me on this one. We're better off heading home before going on a harebrained adventure. There's way too much trouble and no glory in it. You save the damsel but what do you get in the end? A hole in the stomach," the older boy explained. Tommy looked down, discouraged. "This isn't a comic book and we aren't heroes. Let's get out of here, what do you say?"

"All right, I guess," Tommy agreed quietly.

JP smiled and grabbed him by the wrist. "All right, now that we have that settled, let's go and find a way out of here," he said. The two headed into the village. Almost no one was around since they had all gone running of towards the forest in excitement since Agunimon had defeated the demon-dog earlier and returned the forest's data as Bokomon, Keeper of the Book, explained.

Only one inhabitant was still there. It had been one that they had seen when they arrived in the Digital World named Pagumon. The Pagumon sat perched on one of the small buildings and staring straight ahead. "Yo, Tommy, check this guy out," JP whispered to Tommy as the two walked over to him. When he got closer, he yelled to the Pagumon, "Yo, small dude with weird shaped years! What's shakin'?"

The Pagumon turned towards him with a cross look.

"Look, we don't think your world is meant for us, so how about you help us get a ride out? What do you say?" JP asked.

The Pagumon turned away from them. "Buzz off," it said proudly. The older could see that he didn't want them around. Tommy got a sinking feeling. _I hope this thing isn't like the bullies that pushed me onto the train,_ he thought, recognizing the high-and-mighty and I'm-better-than-you attitude.

JP persisted though. "I'll make it worth your while," he insisted. JP went through his pockets looking for something. Tommy and the Pagumon stared at the heavier boy until he pulled out a bar of chocolate. He unwrapped a part of it and broke off a piece of it. "The best chocolate that two dollars can buy," he announced, holding up the piece.

The Pagumon debated on whether or not to take the offer or not. After a second's thought, Pagumon jumped at it, snatching the small offering and chewed on it when he reached the ground. He munched on it happily.

Seeing that the creature enjoyed it, JP continued, "Talk to me, ball, and you get the whole bar."

Pagumon swallowed the piece and eyed the rest of the chocolate with greed in his eyes. "Okay, go to the Trailmon station and talk to Angler, he'll take you to where _ever _you come from."

"Wow!" Tommy gasped with relief. "For real?" Pagumon nodded- or did something that looked like a nod. "Thanks!" the boy smiled before running off in the direction where the Trailmon station was. JP thanked him, handed the rest of the candy to the small ball, and ran after Tommy.

Pagumon happily ate it, but all too quickly. Licking his lips he said, "That was deeelicious! I bet fatty has a whole bunch more!"

X::::::::::X

Koichi continued wandering the small town. On his way, he had seen two people running past but thought nothing of it. He thought finding this Spirit was a better idea. He eventually found himself heading towards a forest and soon came to a clearing with a small mound. The small map closed with a beep. Koichi sighed and put his D-tector in his pocket. _There has to be something here,_ he told himself, looking around.

The earth began to dip a little. On the ground ahead of him, Koichi noticed a green and ice-blue device just like his. Curious, he began walking towards it but he hadn't taken into account that there was a hole right before it. By the time he figured it out, Koichi was screaming as he fell down into an underground tunnel system. He thought he would have been dead but a large pile of hay had softened the landed by a lot. Koichi rubbed his side and arm and looked around. "What's with me and falling off of things today?" he mumbled to himself, getting onto the floor.

Koichi began walking down the weird looking cave, trying to find a way out. After a few minutes, screams for help caught his attention. He began running towards the noise and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw two kids being attacked by Pagumon. Normally, Koichi wasn't one to stand up to trouble and fighting so he was utterly shocked by what he had said. "Hey, stop that!" the boy shouted.

The Pagumon stopped what they were doing and the three looked towards the new comer. The two humans had a look of thankfulness while the Pagumon simply looked amused, seeing that the boy was completely defenseless. With wide grins, they stared at him for a few seconds. Kochi backed up a step, suddenly regretting what he had done. They turned back to attacking their original prey, finding the meek boy too useless to be a threat.

Koichi couldn't just stand there and let them continue doing what they were doing, so he looked for something to help them. He found this urge to help them unnerving in everyway possible. Unable to find anything, he slipped off one of his tennis shoes and threw it towards one of the Pagumon. For a second, it comically bounced off of several of the Pagumon's heads, knocking them off of their attack.

Now enraged, they turned back towards the boy. Koichi froze where he was. When they took off after him, Koichi was only a few steps before them, running around the confined space and crying for help. Somehow, the younger boy ended up being caught in the chase while the older one scrambled away. Koichi suddenly tripped over thing air and fell for the third time that day and took the boy down with him. The mass of Pagumon pounced on them, biting at the two. They both gave out cries of pain.

Suddenly, they both could feel heat pass over them. The weight of the Pagumon had been pulled away. Daring to sit up and peak at their savior, Koichi found that a giant human about twice his own size dressed in some sort of weird red and black armor with wild blond hair. Flames seemed to dance from the back of his gauntlets.

"Agunimon!" exclaimed the boy excitedly.

The creature called Agunimon, turned back towards them. "Hey, Tommy, you okay?" he asked. The boy named Tommy nodded in response with a wide smile.

"What about you?" Agunimon turned his attention towards Koichi.

All Koichi could answer was, "You're a Digimon too?"

Agunimon wasn't able to answer as several of the Pagumon began snarling and piling on top of each other. "Don't think you won yet!" they shouted before being wrapped up in a white glow. After the glow died down, a giant blob of slime with eyes started at them. A horrible stench began to fill the area. Tommy gave out a cry of surprise and Koichi covered his nose in horror. _So, this is what Palmon meant when they were nasty, _Koichi thought to himself.

Right in front of them, they could hear Agunimon mutter, "I don't think that's a good thing."

The creature began spitting green sludge. The three jumped out of the way. Where it had landed, a hole began to appear in the ground. "Now, that's definitely not good," Agunimon cried. Another volley of acidic sludge began flying towards them. Koichi and Tommy dodged as Agunimon fired flames from his hands, knocking the sludge off course and spraying everywhere else. From the random holes in the walls, beams of lights made the room even brighter.

A new volley flew at the two boys. Agunimon jumped in front of them and fired a fire punch, just like before. He looked back at the two boys. "You guys run for it. I'll take care of this g-," he stopped mid-sentence. In a glow of data wrappings, Agunimon turned a human boy that Koichi recognized from the train station. "Hey, how come I turned back?" the boy cried, horrified.

"Got you now, human," said the pile of junk. "Acid Sludge!"

With quick reflexes, the boy pushed Tommy out of the way but accidentally knocking Koichi into a hole behind him. From above, Koichi could hear the yell but he couldn't make out what he had said. All he could see was his life flash before him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he began to pray for a miracle. _I can't die now! I have to find Koji and get home. I didn't even say good bye to Mom, _Koichi thought, a tear running down his cheeks.

Suddenly, light began to fill the hole. Koichi opened his eyes and was nearly blinded from it. In the sudden brightness, he could make out two figures. One looked like a human boy his age while the other was a figurine. "Wh-what's going on?" Koichi wondered.

The figure began flying up towards him. In a flash of a second light, something knew was near him. In his ears, he could hear a howl much like a wolf cub's.

X::::::::::X

Above on land, the four humans and three Digimon gazed in wonder as the beams of light concentrated on the central hole where the dark haired boy had fallen. There was a burst of light as a creature jumped from the hole, carrying the dark haired boy with him. "What's that?" cried the blond girl. "A Digimon?"

The small white Digimon nodded. "Indeed but it is unlike one I've ever seen," he said in equal wonder. The rest of the humans just watched in wonder as the beams went back into their places like before.

The creature landed on the ground and set Koichi down, who was surprised by everything that had happened so far. The creature was a humanoid wolf creature with blue fur and a white muzzle, stomach, and furry collar. He wore white pants and black fingerless gloves and leg warmers. Buckles completed its wardrobe. He glared at the creature with its yellow eyes.

"Who are you?" asked the slime creature.

"Strabimon, got it?" the creature replied coldly. From the name, Koichi could only guess it was a Digimon.

The pile of sludge laughed and fired the acid at the two. Strabimon ran forwards and used his talons to slice the slime away. He jumped into the air with his talons glowing a bright white. "Licht Nagel!" he cried. Strabimon dug his nails into the other Digimon's eyes. He jumped back as the creature gave a wild cry of anguish. He spun around, a ball of light glowing on the top of his foot.

"Licht Bein!" shouted Strabimon, landing a powerful roundhouse kick. There was a small explosion when the kick collided with the slime. In a glow of data wrappings, the creature turned back into the mass of Pagumon. The Pagumon tired to get up to attack but Strabimon took a step forwards and gave them a death glare. Frightened, the Pagumon bounced off.

Koichi collapsed onto the ground, dazed by what had happened. "Hey, you're alright!" cried the voice of the goggle-head as he ran up to the boy. He was followed by Tommy, the heavier set boy, a blond haired girl their age, a sentient yellow rabbit wearing red pants and a white dwarf looking thing wearing a belly warmer around his waist. Koichi assumed that these were Digimon as well.

"Thank goodness you're alright," Tommy said, walking over to him. "Thank you for standing up for me and JP."

The bigger boy named JP just gave a humph in response with a low "thanks". "What's your name?" asked the goggle-head. "I'm Takuya. I remember seeing you at the train station."

"I'm Koichi," Koichi said shyly. "Koichi Kimura."

"Well, nice to meet you, Koichi," Takuya said with a smile, offering him a hand. Koichi took it and helped him up. The five turned towards Strabimon. "That was pretty amazing work there, buddy. What's your name?"

Strabimon gave him a cold side glance that made Koichi shiver slightly even though it wasn't directed towards him. Now he could see why the Pagumon had ran- well, bounced- like the wind out of the area. This Digimon wasn't the least bit friendly.

"I don't have to speak to the likes of you," Strabimon said offhandedly to Takuya. Insulted, Takuya glared at the Digimon and was about to shout something but Strabimon pushed his way passed JP and Takuya towards Koichi behind him. The Digimon was only Koichi's height but the boy felt as if he had shrunk a foot under the cold glare. "You better be more careful, kid," he patronized with a serious tone. "I can't have my partner be killed so easily, got that?"

Koichi nodded in the affirmative hastily. Strabimon gave him one last look before walking away.

"Man, what's his problem?" asked JP, watching the Digimon walk away.

"I don't know," answered Takuya, still annoyed by the insult. He kept glaring daggers into the back of the Digimon's back.

"Come on guys, let's get out of here," the blond said, breaking the silence. "It smells like dead fish from the markets back in Rome."

The five humans and three Digimon began heading out of the small cave.

Chapter 1: End.

**All right; time for the notes. Quick Q&A so no one is confused by anything. If you have questions that I didn't even cover, feel free to ask.**

**Q: Why did Strabimon come out of the hole instead of Lobomon?**

**A: The Spirits of Light don't belong to Koichi. Well, not entirely. We already know that they belong to Koji (but Koichi doesn't know yet). I'm using an element from Adventure 02 where anyone could have used the DigiEggs instead of their respective Chosen (as seen in the **_**Road to Evolution **_**CD drama) with a slight twist. **

**Q: Why Strabimon?**

**A: Strabimon is actually Lobomon's regenerated form, just like how Flamon is to Agunimon.**

**Q: Why is Koichi a wuse?**

**A: Okay, I know I'm having Koichi be a bit puny in this but only in the beginning. He'll get better. I swear to God, he will for those who don't like it.**

**Q: Why do you count the number of times Koichi has fallen in the last two chapters?**

**A: I just find it funny, that's all. Koichi's just quite prone to falling in the series. It'll only be an occasional running gag throughout this entire piece.**

**As a side note to Strabimon's attacks, they're German. "Licht Nagel" means "Light Nail" while "Licht Bein" means "Light Leg". My sources only give me the effect of the former so I made up Licht Bein's effect.**

**Also, thanks to darkhase90, TobiGB, Immortal Fallen Radiance, and mudkipmon for reviewing. Also, thanks to everyone for adding this story to their alerts and favorites.**

**Next update: April 16 (hopefully). Hope you enjoyed.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Fortune Fated Warrior

**A/N: Sorry this is late. I've been distracted by a lot of different things and a different story I had to write. Sorry for the wait. **

**Wow. This story has the most favorites, most reviews in two chapters, and second for number of story alerts and I'm not even into chapter two and hasn't even been up for a month. That's just . . . plain awesome. This is already semi popular. Thanks to everyone who has faved, added this story to the Story Alert, and PokeTrainer, TobiGB, Kimiko Heroux, Immortal Fallen Radiance, 13wolfsbane, and the unnamed reviewer for reviewing. Anyway, please read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier or any of the references made.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 2: The Fortune Fated Warrior

The five humans and three Digimon had made it out of the cave. Before leaving, Koichi had made sure to grab his shoe, which he almost forgot about until he felt the cold stone floor through his sock. Only a mile away from the small area where they had emerged from, they stopped in a clearing in the forest outside the Flame Village. Bokomon, the small white creature, began a lecture about things that he knew that Koichi didn't understand. Takuya, JP, Tommy, and the blond named Zoe seemed to have heard it before and would try to make it easier for the boy to understand since Bokomon's explanation didn't seem to clarify things.

"You see, the reason Takuya was able to evolve into Agunimon was because of a special item known as a Spirit," Bokomon explained, pulling out a book and opening it to a picture to show a drawing of the creature that Takuya had transformed from back in the cave. "There are ten, all created from the Ancient Legendary Warriors, all holding power of the ten different natural elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Thunder, Wood, Metal, Ice, Wood, Light, and Darkness."

"How about you just start from the beginning," suggested Zoe, sitting down next to Koichi with Takuya on his opposite side.

"Right," Bokomon nodded. Bokomon turned back a few pages to show a drawing of an Earth like place that had black shadings instead of being blue and green with a looming black rabbit-jester hovering over it. "Once the Digital World was in the middle of war between the Beast Digimon and the Humanoid Digimon. Suddenly, Lucemon came from the sky and calmed the fighting. He ruled the Digital World in peace for a while but soon succumbed to the power and began ruling like a tyrant. After some time, ten Digimon that would call themselves the Ten Legendary Warriors rose up and defeated Lucemon. With the last of their strength, they turned their power into the Spirits and gave them to Seraphimon, Cherubimon, and Ophanimon who ruled as the Celestial Angels. Their rule was a peaceful one but Cherubimon has recently declared war. When you humans came, Takuya found the Spirit of Fire. It had chosen him to be his personification."

Koichi nodded pretending to understand half of what he said. The last part was kind of out there for him. "It doesn't make sense but, hey– It saved our lives," the goggle head said, showing that he too didn't fully understand everything that had been said. Takuya stood up, stretching. "Well, let's get Tommy and JP to the Trailmon station," he said, heading towards the Trailmon station.

X::::::::::X

A red Trailmon was sitting at the station. The yellow rabbit named Neemon pointed to the Trailmon, saying, "You can take that Trailmon back to your world. All you have to do is hop on and _whoo whoo!_ Off you go!"

"Really?" asked JP. "It's that simple?"

"Yep!" affirmed Neemon in his dopy high pitched voice.

"Neemon! You dope!" cried Bokomon, pulling on the rabbit's pants away from them. "I need to talk to you for a minute."In the background, they could hear Bokomon chewing out Neemon and the yellow rabbit's yelps of pain as they talked– or more of Neemon being punished.

"Well, let's blow this joint," JP said to Tommy, heading towards the platform.

Takuya watched as JP went off and looked back at Tommy. The boy seemed hesitant on following the eldest member. "Aren't you going, Tommy?" asked Takuya.

"Well, I did but now I don't want to," Tommy answered, looking up at Takuya.

The elder boy shook his head and pushed him towards the train, saying that it was too dangerous for him. Koichi took note that he seemed more worried about the boy. Tommy took one last look back at the three before following JP who offered him a hand to get back onto the platform across from them. Takuya looked at Zoe. "So, are you going?" he asked.

"Oh, are you worried about me?" Zoe teased with a smile.

"No, I just don't want to be responsible for you, girl," Takuya answered, slightly annoyed with the girl. Koichi blinked. Was she… flirting with the goggle head?

Zoe turned to face him with her hands on her hips, obviously annoyed that he refused to call her by her name. "This _girl_ has a name," she exasperated.

"Fine, _Zoe,_" Takuya corrected himself crossly. "I'm still not going to be liable if you get hurt."

"Nice one, Romeo, but I can take care of myself," the blond huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from them. Koichi was beginning to think that she might not have been flirting with him after all.

Takuya grumbled to himself for a few seconds before looking towards Koichi. "What about you?" he asked. "Are you staying or going?"

Koichi was taken aback. He wasn't often put in the spotlight to make snap decisions. "Um…" he began. _I really need to get back to Mom_, he thought with a frown. He had to admit, this place was both scary and intriguing but his mother was probably worried sick about him. _Besides, Koji isn't around here. If I don't go home, I might not be able to catch up with him today._ "I guess I should go back."

At that, Strabimon reminded that he was still there. Strabimon roughly grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back and was growling in his face. "You can't leave," he said threatenly with narrowed eyes. His glare seemed to pierce through Koichi's skin like cold daggers, making the boy shiver. "You've been chosen by the Spirit of Light. You're destiny is tied here, got that?"

Takuya jumped at Strabimon. "What the heck?" the boy shouted, grabbing the dog Digimon by the arm that wasn't holding Koichi. "You can't just make him stay! That isn't right!"

"If Koichi wants to leave, he can," Zoe agreed from behind Takuya. Both were glaring at Strabimon. Zoe gave Koichi a glance and asked in a softer voice, "Do you want to stay? You don't have to. You _can _leave, no one is forcing you to stay or to go. It's entirely up to you."

Koichi looked between the three. Strabimon had his glare focused on Takuya who was returning it with equal vengeance. Zoe on the other hand had a sincere look on her face. He didn't want to stay but there was something telling him to stay. His mind wandered back to the message that he had gotten from the woman's voice: _"Find the Spirit and you may find what you're looking for."_ Maybe she knew that she was looking for her brother. Maybe what she meant was he'd be able to find him here; there had been other trains…

"I'll stay," he answered. The three glanced at him. Takuya and Zoe looked at him with mild surprise.

"Are you staying because he's telling you to?" Takuya asked, his voice still vexed as he pointed an accusing finger at Strabimon.

"Um…," he answered hesitantly. "I-It's actually because I'm looking for something."

Takuya sighed. "Okay but I'm not responsible for any of you," he said. Zoe rolled her eyes and muttered something about boys and damsels in distress.

"You won't be responsible for him," Strabimon said coldly. "I am. He's my partner, even if I don't like it. He is the chosen boy for the Spirit of Light."

The Trailmon, bored of just waiting, began leaving the station. They all watched as he left. When the smoke cleared, all three humans were surprised to see Tommy and JP standing there, both rubbing their heads. "What the-? Weren't you guys heading back to the Human World?" asked Takuya, astonished that the two had stayed behind.

"Well," Tommy began, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't want to go back, really."

"I have no clue about me," JP answered but Tommy knew otherwise. JP hadn't even boarded the train after Tommy. JP kept quiet about the weird feeling of an unfinished business he needed to work out.

"Well, I'm not going to be responsible for either of you," Zoe stated. Takuya looked at her with annoyance.

"Are you really trying to mock me?" he groaned. "_I'm_ doing the fighting."

"Yeah, but _we _all have those D-tector things," Zoe argued. "Besides, the girls are always doing all the work."

"Oh really? From what I've seen, girls are constantly kidnapped," Takuya muttered to himself. "I'm pretty sure that you'll constantly be kidnapped."

"Is my name Peach? I can be of use," she growled.

Bokomon walked up to them, pulling Neemon behind him. The poor rabbit was hugging his sore body. "She could be right," Bokomon said. "There are other Spirits. We only have one of ten."

Zoe grinned happily. "See?" she asked in Italian. Takuya just gave her annoyed look before looking away defeated.

JP had his head cocked to one side with a smile on his face. The group began walking away from the village.

X::::::::::X

The dark haired boy stood on the hill, casting his gaze out at the trees below. Only hours before, he noticed the eruption of power while on the search for any of the other five Spirits.

A soft breeze broke across the scene, rustling the wind and the boy's long hair. "It's so peaceful," he mumbled to himself. "For once my head doesn't feel so cluttered."

His short peace was abruptly cut short when a small weasel-like Digimon with grey fur, a long tail, and with long black talons came towards him at a run. "There's nothing there, Koji," reported the Digimon, rising onto his back haunches and becoming level with the boy's hip.

Koji looked at the weasel with a death glare, annoyed from having his peace being disturbed. The Digimon snorted, as if used to it. "Master Cherubimon wants us to find those Spirits, you know," the Digimon reminded his partner.

Koji gave a stiff nod. "Right, Gazimon," he admitted. "Let's go then." Koji began walking away and Gazimon was hot on his heels, going onto all fours after his partner.

X::::::::::X

By sunset, they had made it to a wasteland like area. They followed the train tracks as they headed in the opposite direction of the setting sun, so they could only assume they were going west. Being in a different world, the raising and setting of the sun could have been different. The small band of five humans walked in a straight line by the tracks in silence, the Digimon trailing behind them.

Only moments before, Bokomon had went on a tirade, trying to get Takuya to swear that he'd save the Digital World. Takuya had shrugged him off with a sigh. Suddenly, from their pockets, the five humans' D-tectors began ringing shrilly. Alarmed they pulled them out and were just told by the woman, "Go to the Forest Terminal immediately."

"What do you mean?" Takuya asked the mysterious benefactor. "Where can I find this Forest Terminal?" But the woman's voice didn't answer; the odd symbol adorning their screens disappeared.

Seeing that they wouldn't get another answer, they all pocketed their D-tectors. "What's a Forest Terminal?" Zoe questioned Bokomon, who had flipped open his book.

"The Forest Terminal," he mumbled to himself. "A place in the middle of the Forest Kingdom. I wonder what could be there?"

"How exactly do we get there?" asked JP and Takuya.

"We just follow the tracks," Bokomon answered, not looking up from his book. When Neemon asked how far, the small gnome Digimon answered frustratedly, "All the way!"

The five sighed. As they walked, Koichi couldn't help but let his mind wander. _Maybe there's something at the Forest Terminal that could help with whatever she said I was looking for,_ he thought to himself. _But what exactly could it be? _On the verges of his hearing, he could hear JP claim that he was sunburnt but Takuya seemed to be laughing about something. Pulled back into reality, Koichi watched as JP marched ahead in a huff. The boy blinked to himself, wondering what was wrong but was too scared of having his apparent annoyance backlash at himself.

From behind, Bokomon was half dragging Neemon with him. Sick of the silence, Bokomon went in stride with Strabimon who was keeping distance between himself and the entire group. "So, what were you doing in that hole?" asked the gnome to the wolf Digimon.

It gave him a cold glance but didn't answer, so Bokomon continued: "You're a Digimon I've never seen before and that's a rare even to even happen since I have see almost all Digimon on the face of the Digital World. Just where are you from?"

Strabimon narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "The Spirit of Light," he answered, as if the Book Keeper should have known this.

Bokomon blinked. "The Spirit of Light?" he asked. "You _came_ from the Spirit or _for_?" Strabimon glared at him one last time before walking a head. Bokomon gave him a disgusted look for his disrespect and began to think about the other's response. "From or for?" he wondered to himself.

X::::::::::X

It was nightfall when they came to a chasm. The tracks cut off before them and the earth opened up, revealing a small river at the bottom of the drop. Koichi thought he could see the flickering of lights below as he heard Takuya groan, "Great, now what?"

"Hey, there's a trail over there," JP said, pointing down the chasm. There sat a narrow path hugging the cliff descending towards the bottom. Being sure to carefully take it, they went one at a time towards the bottom. Tommy shivered, thinking that he could feel something watching them. When they came to the bottom, Koichi noticed the lights had disappeared. Apparently, Zoe had noticed it as well.

"Hey, weren't there fires down here?" she asked. Takuya gave her a look as if he thought she was crazy.

"You must have been imagining it," the goggle head said, putting his hands behind his head. Zoe opened her mouth to argue but Tommy had cut her off.

"Hey, Bokomon, who's that?" he asked. Everyone turned towards Tommy and saw him pointing towards a carving engraved in the wall before him. One was that of an angel with several sets of wings in the form of a small boy. Around him was a series of strange symbols. "Hey, one of them looks like the symbol that Agunimon wears on his belt!" Tommy exclaimed, pointing to one of them near the top.

"Hey, the one next to it looks like the one that Strabimon has," commented Koichi, looking at the one on the right of the symbol that Tommy was pointing to.

"Oh my word," Bokomon cried, jumping and looking back at the Digimon. "Strabimon, you have something to do with the Spirits of Light?!"

Strabimon was annoyed by this sudden realization on the small gnome Digimon's part. "Tch, of course," answered the Digimon offhandedly. "I _said _that before. You're too dense to be the keeper of the book, aren't you?

"And you appeared just as Koichi fell," Bokomon continued. "That means Koichi is the Chosen Child of Light! Koichi, you have to help us! You must Spirit Evolve with the Spirit of Light!"

"Hang on," cut in JP, crossing her arms. "If Strabimon is from the Spirit of Light, how come Takuya didn't get a partner like him?"

"JP does have a point," Zoe admitted. JP went crimson and tried to hide a smile.

"I don't want a partner like him," Takuya grumbled, exchanging side glances with Strabimon.

Bokomon didn't hear the boy. "We have a new Legendary Warrior in our midsts and I didn't even now! This is just amazing!" he clapped. "Now we have to find the others! The other Spirits must belong to you three!"

JP grumbled, hoping that he'd just awaken from this stupid dream. Tommy grinned like a child at Christmas, hoping for a big and powerful Digimon. Zoe looked thoughtful, hoping that her own was a beautiful and strong Digimon. Takuya shrugged while Koichi seemed nervous. _Destiny must have some crazy plan just to get me to meet my brother,_ he said to himself. _Grandma always said I was eventually going to do something great but I didn't think she meant this._

The group had seen the light before the voice. "Legendary Warriors?" shouted a series of voices from behind them. They all spun around to see tall animated candles with arms made out of the wax from it's body and the flames on top of their heads peering at them with blue eyes.

"W-who are they?" The humans backed away slightly, unsure if they were friend or foe.

"Those are Candlemon," Bokomon replied, not too worried. "They don't pick fights for Evolution. There's nothing to worry ab-!" Bokomon had spoken too soon; the candles began shouting insults and spitting flame balls at them.

"Stupid humans!" cried the Candlemon. "You are only going to cause us problems. Go back to Cherubimon, Legendary Warriors!" They began charging after the humans and Digimon. The entire group began running away in hysterics.

"Bokomon, I think that these might not be the normal 'Candlemon' you deal with," shouted Zoe.

Tears formed in Tommy's eyes as his find flashed back towards the human world. Earlier, kids had chased after him, much like this only to pummel him into the ground and push him around just before they all had gotten the text message and he was dragged to Shibuya Station. "Why are they chasing us?" he cried out in a scared voice, letting the fearful tears flow.

"Oh, come on, Tommy," JP said. "Now isn't the time to cry!"

"Someone shut that kid up!" Strabimon shouted. "If you're the Chosen for any of the Spirits, I'd have to kill myself here and now."

Takuya shot him a glare. "Shut up, mutt!" he cried.

"Guys, we shouldn't be fighting here," Koichi stammered.

Fireballs fired passed them. "Everyone, into the river!" shouted Takuya, coming to a screeching stop and pulling out his D-tector. "You guys get out of here and I'll hold them off."

"You suicidal?" called Zoe.

"Oh, look who's worrying," Takuya shouted back. "Just go, I'll be right behind you after I deal with them."

"Die like a hero, then," JP grumbled, jumping into the water. Zoe followed him hesitantly. Tommy watched the boy and didn't want to move. Koichi tugged on the boy's sleeve, saying that there wasn't anything for them to do. Both of them didn't want to go but the older boy was right, there wasn't anything they were really able to do. They jumped into the river just as Takuya Spirit Evolved into Agunimon.

The Flame Warrior noticed that Strabimon hadn't jumped in with the others. "Go with them!" he shouted.

Strabimon narrowed his eyes at the taller Digimon. "There's no way," he said. "It's my duty to fight off any risks that harm my partner, even if he is too weak to fight for himself."

"Fine." Agunimon was aggravated enough from this Digimon for the day that he really didn't want to fight him at that moment. He turned his attention towards the small army of candle Digimon. "Ya know, ganging up on people who can't defend themselves isn't such a bright idea," Agunimon stated, readying a Pyro Punch.

"We're not going to fall for that!" shouted a Candlemon. "We're protecting our land's data from your master, Cherubimon. Lava Loogie!" Flame balls were spat at from all sides at the two Digimon. Agunimon encased himself in flames as he wheeled around in a Pyro Tornado, snuffing out the enemies' fire. Strabimon easily dodged them and slashed at them with his glowing talons. For a good while, they were able to hold them off but the Candlemon just kept coming.

X::::::::::X

From a distance, the four humans and two Rookie Digimon safely watched as Strabimon and Agunimon fought. Fed up with watching the two and his own growing sense of powerlessness, JP began swimming away. "Let's get out of here while we can," he said. "I knew I should have taken that stupid Trailmon home."

"JP, we can't just leave them," Zoe said. "They're fighting so we can be safe."

"Exactly," JP pointed out. "_Takuya,"–_he said the name with slight jealousy–"is allowing us to _escape_, Z."

"But, isn't there something we can do?" asked Tommy, looking up at the older boy.

Irritated, JP let out an exasperated sigh; no one was understanding this. "There is _nothing_ we can do."

_If only I have my Spirit,_ Tommy thought with a frown. _I don't want to be scared and run. I want to help Takuya and Strabimon. But what can I do?_ Agunimon and Strabimon were now being pelted with wax that seemed to pierce through their armor, making them cry out in pain. A feeling of strength overcame Tommy suddenly. He dove into the water and began swimming towards the battle.

"Tommy, get back here!" shouted JP and Zoe but the boy had disappeared into the water.

Bokomon and Neemon from their perch on a rock nearby, fretted. "What is Tommy doing?" the Digimon said to himself. Koichi got a faint idea of what it was. He felt slightly envious of the small boy who wanted to help his friend to the best of his ability, even if there was nothing he could do.

Tommy popped out of the water, taking the hat off his head and began using it to splashing the water at the Candlemon's fireballs and the Candlemon themselves. "Quit picking on them, you big bullies," the small child shouted with a determined look on his face.

Agunimon peeked at the boy. "Tommy, what are you doing?" he shouted at Tommy. "I thought I told you to get out of here!"

Strabimon grumbled to himself. _Stupid kid, _he thought. _Does he want to die?_

Still determined, Tommy kept at it, allowing Agunimon a chance to get an attack at one of the Digimon closest to him. The Candlemon changed their attention to Tommy and began rushing at him. The boy froze like ice, unsure of what to do now. He wanted to run but he also wanted to fight. "TOMMY! RUN!" shouted a chorus of concerned voices.

Suddenly, there was a blast of freezing air flying across the cavern. The water froze from the sudden change of temperature but had Tommy rise onto the sheet so his feet weren't frozen in place. Everything else had felt the sudden change in air temperature– all except Tommy. The boy, bewildered, returned his wet hat to his head when a figure suddenly materialized before him. It was a figurine of a small white bear in strange green armor.

"It's the Spirit of Ice!" cried Bokomon from afar.

Tommy had heard him. "The Spirit?" he whispered to himself. A weird instinct overcame him and he pulled out his D-tector. The Spirit of Ice was pulled into the device and with a cry of "Spirit Evolution" and a flash of light, Tommy had turned into a humanoid polar bear the same size of the child wearing the green headgear, a holster, and boots that the figurine had. The small bear inhaled a deep breath and fired it with a shout of "Crystal Freeze!"

The Candlemon froze suddenly. The small bear ran up to Agunimon and Strabimon. "Tommy?" asked Agunimon.

The small bear grinned up at Agunimon. "Yep~!" he answered.

"Let's not just stand here," growled the wold Digimon, running past them. "Licht Bein!" He landed a roundhouse kick on one of the Candlemon, destroying the ice. The remaining Candlemon fled while Strabimon frowned. "Cowards."

From the data that swirled around the destroyed Candlemon, Agunimon and the small bear scanned the data, only for it to return to the land above them a second later and bringing the missing bridge back. Zoe, JP, Koichi, Bokomon, and Neemon approached them.

"Bravissimo!" cheered Zoe as she ran up to the three. "Bravissimo!"

"Uh, thanks?" Agunimon said, awkwardly. He hadn't at all been expecting a complement from the blond.

"It's Kumamon, the Warrior of Ice!" Bokomon exclaimed, opening the book of his to a picture that looked much like what Tommy had turned into. The two humans turned back into their humans selves.

"That was really brave of you," Takuya said, turning towards the boy. "Reckless but– hey, I would have done the same stupid stunt. Thank you, Tommy." Tommy grinned up at Takuya, truly feeling that he had accomplished something.

He glanced down at his D-tector with a smile. _Thank you, Kumamon! Now maybe when I return home, I won't be so scared._ The group quickly left the small chasm, just in case the Candlemon decided to come back for revenge with more.

Zoe was excited to see her Spirit. _I wonder what mine will be like?_

JP launched glances at Tommy. _Why am I still here? Is it because Tommy is and Zoe and I feel responsible? Or is it something more? And why didn't something like what had happened for Koichi and his Spirit happen to Tommy? Will it happen to my Spirit or Zoe's?_ JP shook his head. _No! I'm taking the next Trailmon home…_

Chapter 2: End.

**Okay, for those who want to see Koichi evolve soon, it'll be a few more chapters. That will happen in like chapter… six or seven. If those of you who have read some of my earlier Frontier stories, you might not know, but I'm now referring to Bokomon as a gnome Digimon since… he looks like a gnome, right? Well, I'm maybe over doing JP's beginning personality a bit? Next chapter, things should get better with that. :P Well, this didn't turn out how I thought it was. If I went the way I hoped to, this would have been **_**long**_**.**__**I think no one wants to read more than nine pages of a story at once.**

**Anyway, please R&R. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	4. Chapter 3: Chase the Drifting Clouds

**A/N: Thanks to Stephy825, TobiGB, and Immortal Fallen Radiance for reviewing. This chapter will be a little repetitive since it'll reflect the episode "Kazemon Kicks It". After this chapter, things will take a turn towards being different.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 3: Chase the Drifting Clouds

Train tracks before them split into two different paths. One lead to a more forested area while the other continued along the wastelands. One way to the Forest Terminal... but which way? Takuya took a step forwards. "It'd be the best idea to head to the right," he said, pointing towards the path that lead away from the forest.

"You're joking, right?" asked Zoe in an almost mocking voice, walking right up next to him. "We're heading towards the _Forest _Terminal. It'd be in a forested area!"

"Yeah, but the Trailmon said that we should follow _these _tracks!" Takuya pointed out, annoyed that she would question _his _authority. After all, the goggle head had a Spirit and the blond didn't. If he didn't have a Spirit and she ran into trouble, it'd be her fault. Truthfully, he didn't want anyone getting into trouble but he didn't really feel that way right now.

"Yeah but it could be _that _way!" Zoe argued, pointed towards the forest. "If we head that way, we're more likely to find the Forest Terminal. After all, wouldn't you think the _Forest _Terminal would be surrounded by _trees_?" Zoe knew she'd have to be right. How dense was this boy? Or how stubborn was he?

The goggle head refused to even listen to reason. "Fine, see what I care! You head that way!" he called, walking away. "If you get into trouble, don't come crying to me!"

"Fine, if I get my Spirit on my way to the Forest Terminal, I wouldn't say that I'm sorry for being right!" she huffed, walking in the opposite direction.

Tommy, JP, and Koichi weren't sure whom to follow. Tommy looked both ways as JP walked up behind him with Koichi and Strabimon following him. The youngest of the group began heading after Takuya. JP then gave the dark haired boy a shrug before running after Zoe. Last second, Koichi decided to follow Takuya. _Safety in numbers, right? _he thought.

Bokomon and Neemon were the last to choose which direction to go. "Well, you know, it would be imperative if we follow them," Bokomon said, watching the girl and chubby boy walk towards the forest. "After all, they don't have Spirits yet. I'm pretty sure that they'll be the next ones to get them."

"I guess," Neemon replied. "By the way, Bokomon, what does 'imperative' mean?"

Bokomon gave the simple-minded creature an annoyed stare. "It's imperative if you shut up and just follow me," he answered, grabbing the Digimon by the waistband of his pants and dragging the yellow rabbit behind him. "Why didn't you just stay home?"

X::::::::::X

"I can't believe how dense he is," JP sighed, a victorious grin on his face. "You're right, after all, Z. He just can't see the forest for the trees." He walked in stride with Zoe and gave her a grin. "Ya know he can be a real jerk sometimes."

Zoe gave him a smile and looked off into the distance. "You got that right," she agreed, shielding her eyes with her hand.

"That's why I'm with you," he said folding his arms. With that, Zoe tried suitably alerting him that she wasn't interested in his advancements by mentioning the weather but JP didn't notice and continued. "So if you ever need anything-."

"Do you think she's even listening?" Bokomon interjected, making JP look down at them. Both the Digimon were staring at him questionably and JP noticed that Zoe was walking away from him. He grumbled and ran after her.

Zoe had to admit that she was annoyed at him more than she was with Takuya. They've only known each other for a few days and he was calling the goggle-head a jerk and he was already making advances towards her. _Well, I'm really one to talk_, she thought to herself. _Maybe I guess I can give him- well both, the benefit of the doubt._

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she looked up. A giant tree that stood taller than any skyscraper reached into the sky and its branches stretched farther. Before them was a train station built into the wood branch that gently lead down to the path they had just taken to get up there. She gaped and JP, who had finally caught up to her, did as well. "Wow, it's huge!" the female gasped.

"I never thought trees could get this big," add JP. Bokomon and Neemon gave them glances that were of confusion but the gnome Digimon just dismissed it before turning towards the sign before the station.

"It's known as Breezy Village," he read before pulling out his book from the pink belly warmer, opened it up, and read what it had to say about the village. "The book says it's known for its lush views of the forest scenery."

"Well, then that's something that's missing," commented a new voice curtly. The four looked behind them to see a boy that was sitting on the bench, as if waiting for someone. At his feet was a weasel looking Digimon with some feline features; it looked at them out of the corner of its eye before making a gruff sigh and closing its eye again.

"Oh, hi there! You must have been called here by the message as well," she said, excited to see them. Next to her, JP squinted his eyes and studied the youth. He looked freakishly like Koichi but with longer hair in a ponytail and harsher and prouder features than the shy look-alike/original. He wore a yellow T-shirt under a blue sports jacket, tan pants that came a three fourths of his legs and a navy blue bandana with dark gold zebra stripes tied in his hair.

"Excuse me, but do you have a brother?" asked JP.

The boy gave him an annoyed look that simply stated as if he should know. This left the two in confusion by his answer before he left. After nudging the Digimon at his feet a little roughly, he got up and began leaving but was stopped by the blonde's question, making him give the two a side-glance. "Hey, where you going?" she asked.

"Where I go is my own business," he answered sharply before turning around. "How about you keep your nose out of it, blonde." He continued on his way and ignoring the shouts yelled back at him by the blond. Koji sighed and shook his head. "The nerve of some people. I can't tell who's more annoying, her or Ranamon."

"You're kidding, right?" Gazimon asked, giving him an annoyed glance. "Mercurymon and Grumblemon are ten times worse. All you have to do to get rid of Ranamon is say that she has a giant zit on her face and she runs for the hills." He grinned in dark content.

Koji sighed and continued on his way.

X::::::::::X

Tommy, Takuya, Koichi, and Strabimon had been walking for a good hour and a half through the desert, following the train tracks like the Trailmon they had met earlier had told them.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Tommy asked, beginning to drag his feet. "Maybe we should find a gas station."

"Can you even find those here?" Koichi wondered to himself silently.

"No, I'm sure we're heading the right way! The Trailmon said to keep following this set of tracks," Takuya said, almost half-heartedly. He himself was beginning to wonder if this was even the right way but his pride made him push the thought aside dismissively.

"Yeah, that's what they all say," muttered Strabimon before adding in a more audible voice. "How about you just admit it, punk."

"Admit what?" Takuya asked, whipping around. A frown was plastered on his face. "That we're lost? How can we be lost?"

"Well take a look around, kid," Strabimon said, motioning to the wastelands that stood around them. "Not a tree in sight and _we're _supposed to be heading towards the Forest Terminal. That Trailmon could have been lying to you."

Takuya crossed his arms stubbornly. "How would you know that? From what I can guess is that you've been in that hole for far too long, buddy."

""Hey, guys, can we please stop fighting?" Tommy asked, walking in between the two.

Takuya relented but not before giving the Digimon the evil eye and then spun around on his heels and continuing forwards. Koichi's mind wandered for a second. _I wonder how far the others have gotten, _he thought. _Maybe they were right about the direction of the Forest Terminal. _For a second, his mind flashed back to his home. _I wonder how Mon's doing. I've been gone for a day or so now. With Grandmother's recent passing, she must think I ran away because of the grief._ Koichi gave a sigh that no one seemed to see, except Strabimon.

The Digimon remained silent, in both mind and out loud. He didn't think it would be a good idea to even say anything. _The kid is like a Lunamon: quiet and weak as all heck._

The Digimon and human were suddenly ripped away from their thoughts as Takuya and Tommy gave out cries of surprise. Only for a second were left in confusion but when they saw the crumbling earth giving way to a hole, did they finally understand. Running full speed after the other two, Koichi's heart pounded in his ears as adrenalin coursed through his veins.

Finally, the earth stopped crumbling. In the four's mad dash, Tommy and Takuya had tripped, coming dangerously close to being released into the nothingness below. Whatever happened, it was like a giant piece of the land had just evaporated into thin air.

"Just move slowly," commented Takuya to the boy that was still scared out of his mind, barely being kept on the somewhat stable mass of land. "And whatever you do, don't-."

Of course, it was too late. Tommy burst into tears. Takuya sighed. "All right, fine! We'll head back towards the others," he said. "Koichi, help me back up so both of us don't fall off the edge."

"R-Right," Koichi answered, rushing up to them.

X::::::::::X

The two humans and the two Digimon looked at the work before them. Floramon, plant-like Digimon, had been kind enough to give them food for free. JP had no idea how he had been raked into helping but he was glad to do it; he had never gardened before. JP was never one to even think of doing gardening at all. It had always seemed boring and something old woman did in their spare time since they had nothing else to do. Now, though, he found it relaxing. All his stress seemed to go into his arms and be used as fuel to keep it moving, allowing him to let his mind wander without having to worry about messing up. According to what the Floramon had said, the village had been covered with flowers and trees. JP had a hard time imagining a beautiful escape on what now looked like a ghost town from the old American Western movies.

Deciding to save the brainpower for something else, he wondered about the boy and the Digimon they had seen earlier. If he was here, were there more? Did he have any of the Spirits and something like what happened to Koichi happen to him?_ Speaking of Spirits, I wonder what Spirit is here._ He frowned and shook his head. _Gah, I don't need one. But… The Digital World does seem better than I originally thought._

Meanwhile, Zoe and the Floramon were working hard transplanting flowers from their pots. With the stead rhythm that she was so used to also allowed her to think. _That boy, JP was right by that he looks like Koichi. Did he ever have a twin, _she thought as she patted the loose soil around a newly transplanted plant.

At that moment, several Floramon and JP let out flabbergasted cries of surprise. Three walking mushrooms with beady eyes and were wearing gloves and boots stood in front of them, holding what looked like unanimated versions of themselves. They all had wide toothy smirks on their faces as they bounced them in their hands like balls.

"It's the Mushroommon!" Zoe heard a Floramon shout.

"Mushroommon?" she repeated but no one was able to answer as the three Mushroommon threw the things at them. Zoe shielded her face and a billion things raced through her mind as she heard explosions. One of them was wondering where the others were and another was if JP and the others were all right.

What surprised her the most was when she heard mad giggling. Peeking out from behind her arms. Yellow like fumes were sprinkling down and the Floramon were all having fits of uncontrollable laughter. "What's so funny?" she asked. "Did someone release laughing gas or something?"

"And what's stranger is that we're not even affected," noted JP, taking a step back and looking at the Digimon.

One of the mushroom Digimon, which the two assumed was the leader, stepped forwards and just laughed. "Don't you know the Giggle Grenade doesn't affect non-Plant and Insect Digimon? Some Digimon you are!"

"We aren't Digimon," JP said, shaking a finger, "we're human."

The Mushroommon shrugged as if he didn't care. "So what, Humon or Digimon, you're not going to stand in our way of destroying those flowers."

Zoe took an intimidating step forwards. "And why are you doing this?" she questioned almost shrilly. "That's our hardwork and you don't get the right to destroy it."

"Yeah, so?" challenged the Mushroommon. They pulled out more mushroom bombs and rushed past her and began throwing the bombs, destroying the beautiful plants they had worked several hours on. The shrill cries and giggles filled the air, making Zoe clench her teeth angrily. _I wish I could do something!_

The Digimon laughed manically. Zoe spun on her heels and she marched over towards the three, whose backs were to her. She grabbed one roughly by their makeshift shoulders, making it spin around quickly. Before anyone knew it, a sharp smack of flesh hitting flesh at twenty miles an hour echoed through the silence.

The other two Mushroommon turned back towards their companion in surprise. "What the heck was that for?" the one that was smacked demanded.

"No one has the right to just barge into someone else's work and just ruin it for them! Just because they're weaker than you doesn't mean that you have the right to pick on them!" she yelled. "How'd you like it if people just pushed you around?"

"Yeah," agreed JP, walking behind Zoe with a serious face. "You can't just come in here with your ugly hats-." That's where the blond cut him off.

"[Moron]," she sighed. "You just insulted them."

JP looked back at them and sweated worriedly. The three Digimon were getting to their feet and all had infuriated looks. "You're going to pay for that, chubby," growled the mushroom Digimon.

X::::::::::X

Koji had heard the explosion and out of curiosity, both he and Gazimon had made it a decent distance but decided to go back. "Does it matter?" questioned the Digimon, bored.

"There might be a Spirit," Koji pointed out, looking down at his blue and white D-tector. Sure enough, it was going wild, indicating a nearby Spirit. He frowned. He didn't want to loose this one for Master Cherubimon.

He began running back the way he came, Gazimon hot on his tail. It only took ten minutes to get to where the explosion had taken place. From what he was seeing, a girl had landed hard on the ground and a dried out tree Digimon towered over her ominously, ready to strike.

Something in his mind clicked. "Gazimon, let's go!" he shouted towards the Digimon.

It only looked up at him as if he was crazy. "This isn't our problem," Gazimon said pointedly. "You're better than those humans." He pointed towards the fatter boy that had been knocked aside easily, most likely trying to protect the girl that had scrambled to her feet to escape. "The strong survive, the weak-."

"Gazimon, just do it!" Koji commanded lividly. The Digimon sighed and ran out into battle. He stopped only a yard away from the Digimon and began using his sharp claws to dig a pitfall. He quickly jumped out of the pit and turned towards the Digimon.

"Hey, big guy. Wanna pick a fight?" he shouted, getting the Digimon's attention. Woodmon began walking towards him but fell into the pitfall. Gazimon simply smirked, running at the pitfall and jumping into the air and landed in the middle of the Digimon's face. "Ya know, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. You're no exception," Gazimon snickered before digging his talons into the Digimon's forehead.

The wood splintered in a groan and the Digimon turned into a fractal code that he absorbed easily and greedily before climbing out of the hole. He didn't bother dusting of the acuminated dirt before returning to his partner's side who was walking over to the humans.

The two humans and their following Digimon blinked in surprise at the pair. Much to Koji's annoyance and his nonexistent surprise, it was the two from earlier at the Trailmon station. "Hey, thanks," Zoe said, offering a hand to the boy. Out of habit, Koji took a step back.

"You should get out of here," Koji warned them, looking seriously at them. "This is no place for a bunch of kids that can't protect themselves." He glanced at the two Rookies, a Bokomon and a Neemon. Koji had seen a few of their kind before. Neemons had a mentality of a three year old and Bokomons were known for being scholars, not fighters. "Especially with those kinds of Digimon. Trust me and get out of here," he added before turning around and leaving, not even bothering to hear what the girl had said.

After the Digimon and human left the clearing, Gazimon had finally stated his confusion. "What do you care if those humans live or die?" he asked irritably. "It's not as if you know them. You work for Cherubimon. He gave you existence and everything. You aren't like them: You're the Prince of Darkness."

Koji didn't answer, much like normal. The boy didn't talk all that much but he knew Gazimon was right. His leader had brought him to life to rein darkness over the Land of Light. His duty was to turn everything to normal… but he was drawn to the light. It seemed more natural to him than darkness.

Koji stared up at the treetops, light filtering in through the canopy and creating small sunlit areas on the ground.

Gazimon sighed. "Koji, could you answer me?" he asked, bringing the human back into reality.

Koji sighed. "I don't know…" he answered with an off shrug. Truth be told, Koji didn't know why but he felt obliged to help those that were in trouble. It was completely contradictory to his element and stance, standing by Cherubimon and the rest of the four Warriors under Cherubimon's "care".

Gazimon shook his head. "Darkness isn't an element of mercy, that's light, mind you. Master Cherubimon won't like it one bit," he scolded before smirking at his partner.

"I don't care," Koji replied. "I deserve some freedom to be who I am. I'm still the 'Prince' of Darkness and I won't falter from bringing darkness to this world. Its my destiny after all."

"Good, now remember that, partner."

**Chapter 3: End.**

**Well, another chapter done. Sorry it took months to get it up. I've been busy with other stuff. Yeah, I cut off the battle between Kazemon and Woodmon because I've already written something akin to it already in **_**Games of Spirits. **_**I finally finished this after being mentally nagged enough. Next chapter's going to be different, I swear. Instead of it mirroring the anime, it's going to mirror more of the manga! Yes, there is a manga (well, manhua). At least repetition is going to be a bit different this time. Well, see ya next update!**


	5. Chapter 4: Deceiver of Fools

**A/N: Now for something different. This chapter will reflect the fourth chapter of the manga, which is a mix of episode five and six of the anime and, of course, my own twists. :P Thanks to darkhaseo90, Immortal Fallen Radiance, and luv2write and laugh for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or references.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 4: Deceiver of Fools

Night had fallen since they had met back up. Around the campfire and over the dinner of odd meat tasting apples, Zoe and JP related what had happened to the group from earlier. Takuya and Tommy were still doubtful that the girl had acquired her Spirit and just to prove them wrong, Zoe Spirit Evolved. Takuya gapped and was sent into shocked silence. He hadn't seen anything like it but then again, he hadn't seen a girl in such skimpy clothes before and it took everything he had to just clamp his mouth shut when Kazemon just smirked victoriously down at him.

"Yeah, b-but it isn't as great as Agunimon," he claimed after gathering himself and looking away with a look of defeat on his face.

"Wow!" was all Tommy could exclaim.

Kazemon de-evolved into Zoe and still had the gleeful look on her face. "So, what happened next?" asked Koichi. Even after the short time with these people, he could feel himself let loose.

JP hesitated for a second. "Koichi, do you happen to have a brother?" he asked.

This made Koichi snap his full attention towards JP, his eyes wide in surprise. "What...?" he inquired, his eyes full of disbelief.

"You have a brother, right, Koichi?" JP repeated. Koichi didn't answer, much to the boy's confusion. The other four watched him as his face went from shock to eagerness and then to shame.

"What is it?" questioned Zoe, blinking and exchanging looks with Takuya and Tommy.

"Well… not exactly," he admitted. This confused the four even more.

"What do you mean?" inquired Tommy.

"It's really you have one or you don't," JP said, folding his arms. "Which is it? Is he adopted or something? A half brother?"

Koichi would have been hesitant in saying anything but this time it was different. He felt so comfortable with these four. No fear… No hesitation… Admittedly it was both relieving and unnerving. "Well…" Koichi paused, unsure of how to word it. "Our parents are divorced."

"He still technically is your brother then," Takuya pointed out.

Koichi looked down. "Not when you're not supposed to know about him. My parents got divorced when I was young, splitting up him and I. I didn't know about him- Koji is his name- until my grandmother told me last month," the dark haired boy explained.

Strabimon watched the group, carefully hiding his surprise and confusion. _A brother…?_

Takuya's face contorted in a solemn expression. "Well, that's stupid!" he stated with a frown. "How could they do such a thing?"

Koichi just shrugged. "I think they had a reason for it…" he said quietly. Unfortunately, he said it a little to loudly.

"Aren't you mad about that?" asked Zoe. "A secret like that being held for so long?"

Koichi shrugged. "Not really," he answered. In truth, that was a lie. Koichi was mad, or more furious, that the existence of his brother had been hidden from him. Because of his nature though, it was bottled up and hidden. No one needed to know about it.

Koichi's calmness in how he presented himself and his answer irritated Takuya to no end. "How can you _not_ be angry about it?" Takuya asked in a harsher tone than he wanted. "I would have been furious! I would have demanded to know why. There is no reason to justify what they did!"

Koichi kept his gaze down and didn't answer but Takuya was too persistent in wanting to know. It was Strabimon who stepped in. "Just shut up and eat your meat apples," the Digimon said with his never changing glare.

Takuya turned his gaze towards the wolf Digimon and was about to open his mouth when Zoe spoke up and changed the subject. "You didn't talk to him then?" she asked.

Koichi shook his head again. With that the conversation fell into silence. Bokomon and Neemon sighed. "I can't understand the strives of these humans. What is a divorce anyway?"

Neemon looked at him. "Maybe it's a type of candy?" he suggested, his mind not straying far from food. "Ooh! Maybe it's a type of-!" Bokomon, snapping the yellow rabbit's red pants, quickly interrupted Neemon.

"I don't want to hear your stupid ideas," he muttered, taking a bite of his meat apple as Neemon yelped and hugged his hurting sides.

Strabimon sat, watching his partner carefully. _He isn't just meek but he keeps his emotions bottled up inside. He was the perfect case of a ticking time bomb. The question is when will he go off?_

X::::::::::X

JP wondered how he had gotten caught up in this mess. He groaned to himself but the growl of his stomach was much louder. _This is ridiculous, _he thought to himself as he half listened to the ShellNumemon talk about their kidnapped daughters as they traveled towards the mountain where the village was.

_Oh, yeah, it was for food, _he grumbled to himself. He looked around as Takuya, Tommy, Zoe, and Koichi listened intently. Only Strabimon shared the same look as JP did, or that's at least by what he guessed. He looked much more irritated than he normally was.

Only an hour before, they had made it to a small village in hopes of finding something to eat since it had been a day since they had last eaten. After getting kicked out of a restaurant because they didn't have the right currency, they had seen a sigh that said "Free food for heroes". Of course they would have jumped at it. The word "free" didn't seem to help rational thinking.

JP turned his gaze to the passing scenery and before them. He blinked and did a double take to make sure that he was registering what he was seeing was actually real. Ahead of them, the tracks rose off the ground and went from a track to a roller coaster ride.

The others seemed to notice it as well before they hit the loop. Around him, he could hear the screams of the others that drowned out his own cries of "this world is insane".

What really made it go nuts was when it went uphill- or really, right up a mountainside that was perpendicular to the ground and striking a ninety-degree angle. The human and Digimon alike gripped the side of the cart until it derailed. For a minute, everyone, even Strabimon, thought that this would be the end of them until a wood bridge-like railing on the side of the mountain broke their fall. The five looked down and gripped the wood for dear life, scared of the hundred-yard drop.

"Aren't you coming?" called the voice of the snail Digimon called ShellNumemon. Much like the snails in the human world, these ShellNumemon were able to hold themselves on the side of the mountain. Houses stuck sideways on the mountain much like how the ShellNumemon were.

"We have no way to get up," Takuya shouted back up at them. "We can't scale the-." He quickly moved out of the way, just in time before a wooden ladder hit him in the head.

One at a time, they began scaling the mountain until the ShellNumemon that had thrown down the latter for them resting before a house. The only thing on Takuya's mind was eating something so he didn't hear Tommy's shout about the questionable shadow in the window, obscured by a window shade.

"Takuya, wait!"

"Finally, something to eat!" Takuya shouted gleefully. That quickly disintegrated when a blinding pain fell through his head as something long and narrow whacked him on the head, nearly hard enough to knock him unconscious. He swore to himself and looked at his attacker in surprise, half expecting a Digimon but was entirely thrown off when he saw a human boy standing at the ready with a stick, holding it in front of him like a kendo sword. Takuya had to double check what he was seeing. The boy looked freakishly like Koichi with longer hair and a harsher look on his face.

"Hey, who are you?" Takuya asked, blinking.

"Who are you yourself?" the boy shot back, still not relaxing from his stance, his feet resting on the wall.

Takuya narrowed his eyes in annoyance. _Great, another Strabimon, _he thought disdainfully. "Why the heck did you hit me?"

"How am I to know that you were some kid and not an enemy?" the boy replied curtly.

From all the commotion, the other four humans and three Digimon climbed up and piled up to see what was going on. They all gasped at the boy. Koichi's eyes widened and his heart began to race. It was really him!

Strabimon stared at the boy. Something was off with him. His presence… it seemed bright, almost calling him.

A different Digimon that the group recognized as a Gazimon came and sat on his haunches behind the human in blue. "They're not going to do anything," he said dismissively. "Just a bunch of humans."

"So, heroes," came a new voice. The entire group turned their attention towards a new ShellNumemon that approached them sideways. He bowed formally before continuing. "Thank you, very much for coming and offering your services. I bet you're all hungry, so we'll feed you first."

"Food!" echoed the five humans excitedly. Somehow, they all lost their balance and pitched forwards, landing in a pile. The boy had managed to put himself just above where the pile had landed.

The five humans managed to untangle themselves and Takuya looked back at the boy named Koji. "You here for the free food, right?" he inquired the boy.

"No," he answered but was quickly overturned by his own stomach growling. This sent the Gazimon into fits of suppressed laughter. Takuya giggled himself.

Food was brought to them and the group dug in. All the while, Koichi watched the boy nervously. He and the Gazimon sat away from the other humans with a pile of the odd tasting cabbages, their backs to them.

"So… is that him?" Takuya asked quietly. "Is that Koji?"

Koichi nodded, not taking his eyes off the boy.

"He looks freakishly like you," commented Tommy.

"They're twins, most likely," Zoe concluded. "I'm guessing identical twins."

JP shrugged with a frown. He was sure that Koji had seen his short haired twin, but why wasn't he coming to question him about it? _He must've glanced him over… _JP decided, biting into a curry tasting cabbage. "Mmm. Curry," he smiled, taking another bite greedily.

Takuya took another glance at the longhaired boy. "Hey, how long ago did he get here?" he asked the nearest ShellNumemon.

"He just fell from the sky," the Digimon answered simply.

"HUH?"

"He and his Digimon fell from the sky." A funny mental image of Koji just falling into the village and conveniently landing in a pile of hay filled their minds, making the group burst into laughter.

Koji heard them and snuck a glance at them before turning back to his food. Part of him wanted to go over to them but his normal self shook off the feeling. Gazimon snorted. "You still won't let go of that heart of yours," he muttered.

Koji glared at the cabbage in his hands. It had tasted of some sort of food that its name was on the tip of his tongue. He tried to pin point what it was but his memory faltered. Aggravated, Koji decided to go for a different one. "If I'm the Prince of Darkness, then why do I even have a heart?" he retorted.

Gazimon snorted again. "All creatures start with one, it's the problem with being a living creature. In order to truly fulfill your destiny, you're going to have to become detached from your heart."

Koji snuck a glance at the human's backs. "If that's so, why do I look like them and not a Digimon?" It after all didn't make sense. This world didn't have humans in it. These, in fact, were the first actual humans he had seen- not counting the various humanoid Digimon.

"That's just the form that Master Cherubimon gave you," Gazimon said quickly. "Don't question your destiny."

Koji wasn't sure if he could abide by it. He decided to let it drop but something still nagged in the back of his mind, something that was in eyesight but out of focus and earshot… just out of reach…

"Of course we'll help! We're the Legendary Warriors after all!"

_What? _Koji spun around. He looked back at the group. "Legendary Warriors?" he repeated in disbelief.

The brown haired boy with a stupid grin on his face read Koji's doubt but in a different way and frowned, as if remembering something. "Yeah," he repeated. "You know what those are, right?"

_Do they suspect anything?_ "Yes," he said before deciding to add a lie as an after thought. "I've heard about them here and there."

Strabimon's eyes flickered towards the Gazimon, who's face was wide with surprise. He watched it turn into a wicked grin, a major red flag to the Digimon that something was wrong.

The ShellNumemon cheered gratefully.

X::::::::::X

As it was getting dark quickly, it was decided that the group would go and look for the female ShellNumemon in the morning. Despite the big chance, Koichi drew away and stayed away, despite his nerves telling him to go forwards. Just before bed, Zoe approached Koichi about this. "Why don't you talk to him?" she suggested.

Koichi didn't answer at first but he wanted to do that exact thing. His nerves were killing him though.

"Take it one step at a time," Zoe continued, looking towards Koji that didn't move from his corner.

Takuya, who was next to them, muttered, "Why hasn't he noticed you already? I mean, you stick out like a sore thumb, as is there are only five of us and only one has dark hair like you. Is he blink or something?"

Koichi shook his head. Koji had really good eyesight, actually. From experience from following him, Koji had nearly spotted him several times back when he wasn't a master of spying.

"Doesn't really matter now," JP yawned. "There's morning. You guys will figure it out then and the thing with the ShellNumemon…" –_'cause I don't have a Spirit, _he added as an after thought.

Sleep was rigid for several of them. Koichi found himself getting up at the noise of a thunderstorm outside. He blinked away the last traces of sleep and much to his surprise found Koji and Takuya up as well.

"Why don't you travel with us?" he suggested warmly as possible. Koichi could hear an edge in Takuya's voice. Most likely he didn't want another Strabimon like character to travel with. "We were all called here, after all. Ya know, safety in numbers."

"Thanks but no thanks. I work alone," Koji responded curtly. "I stand by what I told your blond and fat friends, it's best that you get out of here."

Silence fell after that. For some reason, Koichi felt like he could talk to Koji now. It was a good time. He began getting up and circling the others but he fell over a mass that was the Digimon Koji was traveling with. Koichi landed hard. He saw the white shoe in the faint light of the triple mooned sky step in front of him.

"So, you're a Legendary Warrior, huh?" Koichi heard disdain in his voice. He took a glance up at the boy. The faint light illuminated a serious look on his face.

"Don't chatter," muttered Gazimon. Koichi suddenly felt a weight on his back and the padding of paws shuffling through his pockets. Koichi wondered what the weasel Digimon. He felt the black and gray D-tector be pulled from his pockets and the triumph in the Digimon's voice.

"No, please, Koji," Koichi pleaded. "I need that."

Gazimon must've tossed it to the human, as he had caught it and studied the device. "You won't need it, Warrior," he stated. "Not when it now belongs to Cherubimon."

With that last statement, Koichi's heart sank. "Ch… Cherubimon?" he repeated in disbelief. "But… You can't work for him… Koji…"

Koji got to his knees and looked down at the boy, about to affirm what he said but the boy drew back in surprise. For the first time, Koji had seen the boy's face. Even in the faint light of the night, Koji could see the boy's eyes. They seemed familiar. The dark orbs reminded him of something. Sadness filled him as he drew away again. "How do you know my name?" he asked, a million emotions gushing through the tone. The tone was menacing but it also hid hurt, sadness, and anger all at once, all emotions that Koji wasn't able to pinpoint where they came from.

"I know you… you see-." Koichi's tongue went numb. He just couldn't say it. For some odd reason, it just wouldn't come out. He also didn't have a chance to finish.

"What the heck?" came the shout of Takuya. This awoke the other three humans, Neemon, and Bokomon. Strabimon had leaped at Gazimon, throwing him at the wall (or rather the ShellNumemon's floor). He was growling at the Digimon, clutching a small boxy object.

"What the heck is going on?" inquired Zoe, startled.

"They are after the Spirits!" Strabimon shouted, throwing Takuya the object that happened to be his own D-tector. "They're minions of Cherubimon!"

The group was at first skeptical of the accusation but a loud boom at the other end of the house cut their chances to state it.

A short stubby Digimon that vaguely reminded them of a dwarf with a very large nose entered the house from a large hole in the side of the mountain.

"Grumblemon, really? Taking a bunch of females captive?" Koji shouted at the creature. "And then throwing me off the cliff?"

The creature named Grumblemon sneered at the human. "Me Grumblemon want mountain Fractal Code. Grumblemon thought stupid Dark want to ruin Grumblemon's plan," he gloated.

"Grumblemon?" shrieked Bokomon. "The Warrior of Earth, Grumblemon! Everyone, be careful! He's a legendary Warrior."

"WHAT?"

They didn't have time to get an explanation as Grumblemon took out a war hammer and swung it, the handle extending towards them. The humans ducked and the hammer crashed through the stonewall, easily creating a hole. Strabimon was the first to get to his feet and he rushed towards Koji, wrestling him to the ground for the possession of Koichi's D-tector.

The others quickly followed suit, getting to their feet. Takuya, Zoe, and Tommy Spirit Evolved into Agunimon, Kumamon, and Kazemon. The Flame and Ice Warriors rushed at Grumblemon while Kazemon grabbed JP, Bokomon, and Neemon and brought them somewhere safe outside so the battle wouldn't get to them. Strabimon followed her after gaining the D-tector and picking up the dazed Koichi.

Far above the village, there was a little cliff where they could be kept safe while the Digimon fought Grumblemon. "Stay here," Kazemon instructed them before flying down to join the fight with Strabimon.

Somehow, Agunimon and Kumamon had managed to get outside of the partially destroyed house and jumped towards another's wall so that they wouldn't fall to their doom. A few times, Grumblemon changed forms into something bigger and he disappeared into the mountainside only to pop up where the others were. Several close calls were done but Kumamon and Agunimon had managed to stay on the mountain.

JP couldn't help but feel helpless. He wanted to help but there was nothing he could do. There was a sudden flash of lightning and the bigger boy flinched just as the crack of thunder followed. _I don't get it, _he thought to himself. _I have a D-tector like everyone else but what can I do without a Spirit? Do I even deserve one? I can't even stand thunderstorms!_

There was a boom of thunder, making JP scream in terror. Being high up and out in the open was bad all on its own. This only magnified JP's fear.

"JP, you okay?" Koichi asked, concerned about the older boy.

JP didn't even hear. _I wish I can do something but what can I do? I'm just a giant coward! I don't want to hide behind others anymore! _He put on a shaky brave face and stood up, his form racketing with fear. "B-BRING ON THE LIGHTNING!" he screamed.

Koichi wasn't sure what was going on. Above, he heard someone shouting for help. "JP, above us!" Koichi shouted over the now roaring wind. Rain was beginning to fall as well.

JP looked upwards to where he was pointing. A good sixty foot climb upwards, he could spot a cave. Another roar of thunder sounded and JP flinched. _This is it! I've had it! I'm going to do something!_ He was thinking rashly. By the time he was half way up, the rain had drenched him and the mountainside had became slippery and hard to hold onto.

_Can't… Can't stop now…_ Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck just above him. The exploding boom was louder than JP had braced himself; he jolted and flinched and as a consequence, the boy lost his footing and began plummeting downwards with a scream. The wind rushing past his ears drowned out everything that was yelled.

But just as he kept falling, something also began falling as well. JP, at first, thought that it was a piece of rock that had somehow gotten loose but much to perfectly shaped to have been a rock- and it was the _wrong _color. A wild ringing caught his attention and before he knew it, a single thought ran through his mind: _the Spirit._

Now he wouldn't be useless. Things would be different. _I'm going to be different!_

X::::::::::X

The beetle looking Digimon had been at first thought to be an enemy, but when he caught the falling Strabimon and set the Digimon on a stable surface did they realize that it was JP in the form of the Spirit of Thunder, Beetlemon.

Grumblemon had just popped up where Agunimon was standing in order to sneak attack him from above but Beetlemon crashed into him with electricity jolting from his blue armor to the dwarf Digimon, sending him crashing into the mountain across from where the others were.

Kazemon had taken to fighting Gazimon without too much trouble. Koji grumbled, seeing that the battle was as good as lost and called Gazimon back. Gazimon frowned with an annoyed face but did so. Before withdrawing, the Digimon tried swiping at Kumamon. The small bear easily dodged it but still got clipped.

"Grumblemon!" shouted Koji behind him over the roar of the wind, since the rain had calmed down quite a bit over the course of the battle.

The Digimon popped up. "What you want, stinkin' 'Prince'," he demanded curtly.

"We're drawing back," Koji stated.

"WHAT?" Grumblemon shrieked, bringing out his hammer to bop the human on the head, even if the lightest one would have most likely left him unconscious. "Grumblemon don't got to show off Beast Spirit!"

Koji didn't answer with words, instead using his ordinary tactics of a death glare. Grumblemon growled and grabbed the two roughly before diving into the mountain and disappearing.

"What the heck was that about?" shouted Agunimon, who had witnessed the event just above them. Beetlemon hovered down closer to them.

"Dunno," answered Kazemon, quite confused herself.

"And what did he mean by a Beast Spirit?" added Kumamon.

"We'll ask Bokomon later," Agunimon replied. "We have to find those daughters before they come back!"

Bettlemon pointed upwards to where Koichi was and explained about the cave. Beetlemon and Kazemon carried the three other Digimon up towards where Koichi, Bokomon, and Neemon were waiting for them and went to free the ShellNumemon's daughters.

**Chapter 4: End.**

**Sorry that the chapter ending was kind of weak. I've been stuck having writer's block (or, really, writer's _motivation_). Well, my own twists are what you can see. The only thing that isn't a twist is JP getting the Spirit there (like the manga) and what eventually drove him to trying to help.**

**On another note, has anyone seen the new season? Xros Wars? Saw it myself and it has a lot of potential. I just may end up writing an one-shot or two for it until the season is either halfway through or it's entirely over.**


	6. Chapter 5: In The Dark

**A/N: Thanks to Journey and Immortal Fallen Radiance for reviewing. To Journey (since you don't seem to have an account on here), to answer your question would be kind of. That's all I'll say. XD**

**Disclaimer: I own Digimon. And the fifty-foot abominable snowman lives in my backyard and I've named him Fred. If you didn't get that, it's called sarcasm. I DON'T own Digimon.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 5: In the Dark

Koichi had no idea how the fight had begun between Strabimon and JP but when Tommy and Koichi tried to stop it, the argument only got worse. "Stay out of it, both of you," Strabimon snarled, making both of them flinch. He saw this and berated them even more. "How can you be my partner and you be a Chosen of a Spirit? Both of you can't even stand up to me, so how can a bunch of weaklings stand up against that Grumblemon?"

Tommy tried to put on a brave face. "I can fight!" he shouted, much braver than he used to. Koichi however, didn't answer. "I've fought with everyone. I'm not weak anymore!"

"Stop pretending," Strabimon growled again.

"That's enough Strabimon," Takuya warned, walking over to him with a clenched fist. "I've had just about enough of this! What do you have to prove, picking on people smaller than you? How about you pick on someone your own size!"

"GUYS!" shouted Zoe, desperate to keep the fight from escalating. "We can't be doing this now. It's getting late and we-."

Strabimon however, didn't listen to the girl. "You stupid humans have no idea what you're doing. All I see here are a bunch of stupid children. An arrogant leader, a useless crybaby, an insecure little girl trying to be big, a shallow fatso, and a meek weakling that can't even stand up for himself," the Digimon continued.

"Hey, that's low!" JP shouted.

"You know nothing about me," agreed Zoe, but with less feeling than any of the others.

"And you wanna know what I see, huh, Strabimon?" Takuya asked, his voice shaking as well as the rest of his body as his blood boiled. "All I see is self-centered jerk of a wolf that needs to be knocked off his high horse!" The Flame Warrior flew at the Digimon, who easily sidestepped him and watched the boy punch the thin air. Takuya spun around and launched a fist at him only have his target duck and sweep the boy's feet from under him. Takuya landed hard on the ground and Strabimon was about to graze him with his claws but-.

"Strabimon! STOP!" shouted Koichi, much louder than any of the group could have thought. His face was serious and dark. Anger flashed in his eyes. "Strabimon, leave him _alone_."

Strabimon glared back at the boy, reading his expression. Dead seriousness. For a second, a different figure flashed over him. It was way to quick to be able to register what it exactly was but what he did for sure see was a giant dark figure holding crimson blades and blood red irises. _What was that? _Strabimon shivered slightly out of fear.

Takuya felt Strabimon shiver slightly before the Digimon grunted and did as the boy told him. Takuya forced himself up and looked over at the dark haired boy with a hard look.

Zoe looked at their friend with a frown. _We've never seen him like this_, she thought. _I guess even those who are scared can lash out._ She walked over to Takuya and offered him a hand. "You know, you really shouldn't pick fights," she said.

"What?" Takuya nearly shouted, still angry from the bout. "You're taking that bully's side? He was the one who started it."

"Yeah, but you could have finished it by _not_ lashing out," she retorted. "Remember, he's a Digimon."

"So? I can take him."

"Maybe Strabimon wasn't too far off the mark," Zoe sighed.

"What?"

Bokomon, seeing a fight coming on, dropped his fist into his hand. "Let's eat!" The group looked over at them, confused. "Well," Bokomon began explaining, "I've seen that arguments tend to start because everyone's on an empty stomach and since we haven't eaten since we left the ShellNumemons' mountain since yesterday afternoon, everyone must be famished."

The group frowned at each other as their stomachs answered the accusation. "I am pretty hungry," Zoe sighed.

"I _could _eat a horse," JP sighed, patting his stomach. "And finally able to rest some! Finally."

Takuya stood. "We're going to need a fire since it's going to get dark soon. JP, Koichi, and I can go get the firewood while the rest of you find something to eat. We meet back here shortly, alright?" he said to the group.

The group nodded and went to do their respected assignments, all completely unaware of something watching them in the trees.

X::::::::::X

The group met back up at their destined campsite. Takuya and Koichi were starting a fire while the other three and two of the three Digimon were sticking the pale green apples that tasted like meat onto stick ends. Earlier, they had learned that eating them raw left a bitter taste in their mouths and so had to wait until after cooking them to eat, much to their rumbling stomach's displeasure.

"Fire's up!" Takuya announced. The five raced over to the fire with their dinner on sticks in hand in order to quickly roast them. A sudden whoosh sound caught Tommy's attention, making him stop short and look down into the now dark forest. _Did I just hear something, _he thought, looking up at the trees.

"Hey, short stuff, what's taking so long?" JP called.

Deciding that the noise he heard was just the wind; he raced over to the campfire to join the others, though in the back of his mind, Tommy could feel that there was something watching them. "Sorry," he apologized, sitting down and sticking the meat apple stick so that it would roast.

"Hey, Bokomon," Takuya began, remembering the conversation that he and Koichi had semi-started up about their most recent battle, "That thing named Grumblemon mentioned something about a 'Beast Spirit'. What exactly is it?"

"Hmm?" Bokomon answered, confused by the boy's question. "A 'Beast Spirit'? Never heard about such a thing. The book may say something, though…" The Digimon pulled out the green book and flipped through it mumbling "beast, beast, beast" over and over again. He finally came to a stop, empty-handed. "It doesn't say a thing."

"Hey, Bokomon," Neemon began, rustling at a page but the addressed Digimon smacked his hand away.

"Paws off, Bakamon," he muttered.

"But Bokomon, this page is folded over," Neemon insisted, showing Bokomon what he meant. Bokomon flipped over the page and his eyes widened in wonder.

"You know, you can be of some use sometimes, Neemon," the Digimon said before quickly scanning over the page. "It appears that there are _two _Spirits: the Human Spirit like Agunimon and Beetlemon and a second one called a Beast Spirit."

"That must've been what Grumblemon was talking about," Tommy stated.

"Must mean we all are able to get one," Koichi said before bowing his head, feeling slightly useless than the others since he had yet to Spirit Evolve. How much difference would this set him and the others apart now?

"Then we're only half way there," sighed Zoe with a frown.

"Augh," JP complained. "That's like starting at space one."

"Quit griping," Strabimon snarled from his place by the tree, far away from the rest of the group. He got up and took several steps closer towards them so the firelight fell brighter on him. "It just means there's more. If you don't want to do it, then get the hell out of here."

Takuya glared up at him but refrained from commenting. Strabimon was right; they'd just have to find them. "We can use these Beast Spirits to defeat whatever forces that are thrown at us. It should be a piece of cake."

"Not good," Neemon began.

"What isn't good about this, Neemon?" Bokomon demanded, turning towards his companion and slightly spitting as he shouted. "It means that they can Spirit Evolve into new forms! What's not good about that?"

"Really not good," Neemon insisted.

"It means that they can return the Fractal Codes to the Digital World. Is surviving something so bad, you dolt?"

"Are you sure you want the meat apples to burn?" Neemon asked, pointing towards the fire.

Takuya, Zoe, JP, Tommy, Koichi, and Bokomon looked at their supper to see that it was starting to smoke. Surprised, they frantically tried to get them from the fire and burning to a crisp with cries of surprise and the hot ends of the sticks.

"That was a close one," Takuya sighed, taking a look at his slightly over done apple. It had changed from a pale green to a deeper shade of the same color. "Well, dig in." Everyone took their apples and began eating.

"Things don't make sense around here," Koichi said to himself, a little louder than he meant to. "First evolving, then cabbages tasting like something else, and now apples tasting like meat loaf."

"Hey, things could get worse," JP pointed out.

"Don't jinx us!" Takuya shouted.

Things fell silent at a sudden cloud cover moved across the three moons, sending the area into darkness save for the campfire lighting a small area. Then, areas on the trees began to glow.

"Hey, what's that?" Tommy questioned, pointing over to the trees. The group got up and took a closer look. The glowing bark of the trees showed various pictures of different areas in the human world: planes flying in the sky, a jungle scene, the Eiffel Tower in France, and various other places that the children recognized from either seeing pictures about it or visiting the said places themselves.

"This is Television Forest," Bokomon explained. "It shows places from another world. Your world, I guess, since the book explains about it showing scenes from the Human World."

Zoe's eyes fell onto a screen that showed a tree that showed the picture of a normal Japanese elementary school with cherry trees in the front, all of them in bloom with sakura flowers. She walked over to it, realizing it was her school. "Wow, I never guessed how pretty the school could be with…" she paused with a longing smile that began to fade. "The sakura blossoms are in bloom."

JP saw one that showed his own school. Memories of loneliness filled him and he turned towards Zoe's. "They are pretty," JP said, looking at the cherry trees. "They'd make great cherries. It's the one of the only things I even like about school."

Takuya's eyes fell on a screen that showed a soccer field. "That's where me and my little brother and I always played soccer," the brunet whispered to himself. "I wonder what Shinya's doing right now…" A pang of guilt overcame him. The last time Takuya had really talked to his brother was when they last fought. He must've seemed like a problem child after just running away after a fated text message.

Koichi felt a pang of guilt when he saw a screen that showed his apartment. He been away from home for days and only a few times did he even think about how she must've been worrying about him. _I wonder how she's holding up with me missing… _he thought. _I'm such an idiot for making Mom worry._ He wanted to run back home and apologize.

Tommy walked over to a screen. Two contradicting feelings filled his heart: safety from being away from the familiar playground that had been the reasons why he always cried and a wanting to go to that familiar playground. Right now it was empty until an older woman in her mid-thirties appeared in the screen. "Mama," Tommy whispered, tears welling up in his eyes.

The four other children turned towards Tommy. They saw the woman and automatically knew she was the boy's mother. She had the same bright blue-green eyes and the same light brown hair as Tommy's that was mainly hidden under his orange hat but hers was a bit wavier than her son's. She had a look of worry on her face and was close to tears.

"Tommy, that's your mother?" asked Zoe gently, noticing that the boy's fragile state of mind. "She's awfully pretty."

"Yeah," agreed Koichi.

Tommy remained silent. He wanted to reach through the screen and hug his mother. His want was so great but reality remained. "Mama," he whispered. "Huh?" The screen began to fuzz up, like the signal was going out of reach. "Mama? Please don't go!"

Unfortunately, whatever power there was decided to be cruel. As the three moon's light came out from behind the clouds, the images began to fade as if they were never there. The boy let out a wail as his mother's image disappeared. "MAMA!" he cried, slumping onto his knees and began letting out a wail. The other four watched him helplessly. Takuya was the first to take the initiative. He didn't know the true reasons behind his actions. Was it because he truly felt sorry for the boy or was it because of how Tommy reminded him of his little brother and this would be his chance to start over as an older brother?

The Flame Warrior placed his hands on the boy's shoulder. "It's okay, Tommy," he said softly, allowing the boy to spin around and hug him for comfort. Takuya picked up the eight year old and he headed towards the campfire, setting him down next to him by the fire.

The others followed, speechless. After a couple of minutes, they began eating silently. Tommy was still upset but his sobs had calmed into a silent flow of tears. Takuya hated seeing him like that. "Hey, Tommy, here, try this." Takuya handed him his bitten into meat apple in hopes that this would allow the boy to change what was on his mind. "Ever had prim rib cooked in barbeque? It's really good."

Tommy looked at the offered food. After hesitating for a few moments, he took the stick and bit into it. He smiled slightly, feeling better.

Zoe noticed what Takuya had done and smiled to herself. "He must be such a great older brother," she said to Koichi. "He knows how to take care of him. I wish I could do that."

Koichi looked at her. "You don't have any siblings?" he asked.

Zoe shook her head. "No, I'm an only child. My aunt hates kids and my other one is sterile. I never really had a chance to really act as a big sister," she explained.

JP looked up. "I'm an only child too. Out of my cousin's I'm the second youngest. The other one is only two years younger than I am and we never really get along. I'm actually glad that I'm an only child. I don't think I can survive the responsibility of having a younger sibling," he said, biting into his meat apple.

Koichi smiled silently to himself. "When I was young, I always wanted a brother…"

"But now you have one," Takuya pointed out, hearing them talk. "Sure he needs some defrosting and some sense beaten into him, but he's a brother. If you don't like him in the end, though, you got us. Friends are life's apology for horrible family members."

Koichi couldn't help but smile even wider. Friends were something he never really had. He tended to avoid other people and remain silent, being labeled the freak of the class and being the easiest target in his grade for bullies in school.

Strabimon snorted in annoyance, stealing a meat apple from Bokomon's pile.

JP suddenly got an idea. "Hey, who's up for a magic show?" he asked.

"Magic?" Takuya blinked. "Since when?"

"Since forever," JP answered. "Well, shall the show begin? Lady and germs, I give you the legendary Howdie Do-dat's show!" The group watched him pull off various feats such as tying two different colored scarves in various ways and making a coin appear out Tommy's ear. Takuya and Tommy cheered. Koichi clapped, unsure of how he was able to do such things.

Right in the middle of JP's card trick, Takuya looked suddenly behind them. Zoe looked at their leader. "What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know really," he answered. "I thought I heard something."

Koichi looked around and froze, something glowing in the trees. He blinked and it was gone.

Tommy yawned. "Hey, guys, I'm tired. Can we go to bed?" he asked. The others agreed. It was getting late, most likely almost ten. They decided to go get leaves to use as a cushion against the hard ground where they'd rest.

X::::::::::X

Tommy was the first to fall asleep, leaving the other four to decide who would take the first watch. JP and Takuya were the only ones up; the older boy had lost a game of rock-paper-scissors but Takuya stayed up to keep him company. JP complained about it a bit but Takuya only pointed out that he had lost.

"Can't you just take the watch? I'm ready to crash," JP continued.

Takuya frowned as silence overcame him. He frowned before changing the subject. "JP, you mentioned that you're an only child. Is it… lonely?" he asked.

JP frowned. "So? It's not lonely at all," he said a bit defensively, though some of that was a lie. "What are you suggesting?"

"Sorry if I sounded rude," Takuya apologized, sitting up. "It's just I've been an older brother all my life. I've always been curious about what it was like to be an only child." He looked over at Tommy's sleeping form. "Tommy reminds me of my little brother. Shinya's his age, he actually just turned nine the day we came to the Digital World…" His tone was quiet and holding back sadness. "That reminds me, I never got that cake. It's probably gone by now."

"Cake sounds good right now," JP said, a half smile crossing his face. "You should save some for all of us once we get back."

"That's a deal!" Takuya agreed with a grin.

A sudden moaning caught their attention. They looked over at the source and saw it was Tommy. The boy's tossing and turning awoke the other two. Zoe, being closest to their youngest member, crawled over to him. "Hey, Tommy? What is it?"

The boy suddenly bolted up, scaring both the girl and Koichi who was standing behind her. Koichi fell to the ground and blinked.

The boy got to his feet and grabbed a stick from the smoldering fire. "I won't forgive anyone," he mumbled.

The two looked at each other. Was he sleepwalking?

Suddenly, Tommy swung the stick at Zoe and Koichi, the two scrambling out of the way of the still hot tip. Takuya, JP, and Strabimon stood up, astonished by what he was doing. "Tommy, what are you doing?" shouted JP. "Have you lost it?"

"I won't forgive! ANY OF YOU!" the boy shouted before lashing the stick out at Takuya. Off of instinct, Takuya caught it in his hand and wrestled it out of Tommy's hands.

"Tommy, what's going on?" the boy asked.

"You won't keep me here from Mama. I won't allow it!" He pulled out his D-tector and Spirit Evolved into Kumamon. He blew a freezing wind at them, leaving the ground where the others had been frosted over.

"Tommy, what are you talking about?" Zoe cried.

"We're not keeping you from doing anything," Koichi added, taking a step forwards out of instinct. On the inside, he was petrified by what he was doing… but his friend was acting strangely.

Kumamon turned towards the approaching dark haired boy and didn't think twice about sending a Crystal Freeze attack at the boy. If Strabimon hadn't pulled Koichi out of the way, he would have been frozen solid.

"He's lost it," Strabimon growled in his ears. "He's turned on you all. He isn't holding back so neither should all of you." With that, Strabimon flew into battle, unleashing a Litch Nagel attack at Kumamon, who side stepped and jumped into the air, turning his body into an icicle and falling towards Strabimon, who easily dodged.

"Strabimon, stop it!" shouted Koichi.

"Damn mutt! He's a friend!" Takuya quickly Spirit Evolved into Agunimon and went in to try to stop the battle. Kumamon took Agunimon's approach of him trying to jump into battle. The little polar bear launched an attack at both of them, taking the Flame Warrior off guard.

JP, Zoe, and Koichi ran as trees and attacks came from all sides. "Something really isn't right about this," Zoe said.

"Yeah but what is Strabimon doing?" JP gritted his teeth.

Koichi shrugged, looking around. This couldn't have been Tommy. He stopped suddenly, his eyes catching a fleeting figure. "JP! What's that?" Koichi asked, pointing to the thing.

JP looked at it before it changed its course towards the three. JP and Zoe quickly Spirit Evolved. Beetlemon unleashed a flash of lightning that illuminated the small area but the Digimon easily dodged the strike only to be blown around by Kazemon's wind attack.

"Damn thing's fast!" shouted Beetlemon, trying to land a strike but the Digimon easily dodged it.

Bokomon's voice carried over to them. "That's a Bakumon! It must've put Tommy into an illusion! If we can defeat him, Tommy should turn back to normal!"

Koichi heard this but the others needed to know. The boy turned and ran towards the others. Bakumon had seen the boy begin running from them and flew past both Warriors towards the boy. "Nightmare Syndrome!" A ghost like fog erupted from his mouth and encased itself around Koichi, absorbed into the boy's flesh, making him fall.

X::::::::::X

The next thing Koichi knew, he found himself in a foggy area. Dark shadows expanded around him. _"Sadness, fear, loneliness… Turn it all to power!" _Koichi looked around wildly.

"Who's there?" Koichi shouted.

A sudden figure appeared before him. It was like a shadow with red dots on its torso, shoulders, and feet. Koichi shivered. It felt as if seven red eyes were peering at him with hate. The figure held out a foggy hand, extending a red blade at him.

A feeling of anger washed over him as memories flashed over him. Taunting from children in his class, whispered rumors he had overheard… Strabimon pushing him and the others around.

"_Your alone. Don't you remember?"_

"My friends…"

"… _are only going to leave you."_

The bottled anger was too much to hold. Like an uncorked bottle after being shaken, the contents exploded and washed over him, destroying the levies that held back bursts of emotion as it flooded his mind.

X::::::::::X

"Tommy, we're not keeping you from anything! What makes you think that we are?" Agunimon pleaded, dodging a bunch of snowballs.

"Why are you still holding back?" Strabimon growled at the Flame Warrior.

"He's my friend, that's why!" Agunimon shouted angrily at the humanoid wolf.

Kumamon froze. "Friend?" he repeated silently. His expression hardened. "You're keeping me from my mom! You're all just a bunch of bullies! I'll serve justice! Frozen Tundra!" Kumamon jumped into the air and turned into an icicle, hell bent on skewering his opponent. Agunimon jumped out of the way, causing Kumamon to dig into the ground.

"Tommy! We're not bullies. What's the point in trying to get revenge? You're not going to prove anything," Agunimon explained desperately. "Bullies pick on the weak to prove that they're strong but they're not. They're weak! Tommy, I know you are strong! If you are, you wouldn't be doing this. The reason you stayed here was to be a hero, right Tommy? Then prove it!"

Kumamon froze once again, the bigger Digimon's words sinking in. His gaze dropped to the ground. _I want to be like that. I want to be brave. Takuya kept standing up for me… JP helped me try to get back home despite not liking me too much… Zoe and Koichi never said anything bad to me… Why am I fighting them, then?_ They all watched in surprise as he de-evolved back into Tommy and collapsed out of exhaustion. "Wh-what happened?" he asked, puzzled and looking around.

"You… don't remember?" Agunimon asked.

"What…?" Strabimon began, befuddled. He heard a twig snap and the Digimon spun around to see Koichi slowly making his way over to them.

"NOTICE ME!" he cried. The group looked at him, confused.

Before they could shout something at him, something looking like a tapir flew over him and at them. "What the hell is that?"

"It's a Bakumon! It caused Tommy to have that nightmare!" came Kazemon's shout as she flew over Koichi after the said creature. "You have to get that thing!"

"All over it!" Takuya cried, engulfing his fist in flames. "Pyro Punch!" The attack mingled with Kazemon's Hurricane Wave attack and it turned into a flaming tornado. The attack grazed Bakumon's side but it was enough to reveal his Fractal Code. Kazemon, being the closest, scanned the data, leaving behind Bakumon.

Kazemon landed on the ground and de-evolved. "Phew, glad that's over," she sighed. Her D-tector gave out a weird beeping noise before data ejected itself from the device and formed into a golden ring.

"What's that?" asked Tommy, pointing it at the golden ring.

"It's a Holy Ring," Bokomon explained, walking over with Neemon and JP who was helping support an exhausted Koichi. "It gives Bakumon the ability to suppress the nightmares he eats from taking over him. Apparently Cherubimon must have somehow used it to corrupt Bakumon here."

Agunimon picked up the small Holy Ring and made his way over to the Bakumon that was struggling to get up. The boy frowned and slipped it onto one of the Digimon's front legs before de-evolving. "Well, I guess that's everything," he said, getting up and turning towards the others. "Let's head back to camp."

"Does this mean I have to take the first watch still?" JP asked, yawning.

"No, I will," Takuya said. "Those of you who can sleep, try to." With that, the boy restarted the fire to ward away some of the darkness made by the forest's canopy. However, Zoe wasn't able to. She got up and walked over to him.

"Can't sleep?" Takuya asked.

Zoe nodded. "Yeah, I'm just a bit jumpy. We were just randomly attacked so I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight," she answered.

"I know what you mean," he agreed. He paused. "Was Koichi under Bakumon's spell?"

Zoe nodded. "Well, he did get hit with it when he tried to go and tell you guys. He then just started babbling about him having the shortest end of the stick." She frowned. "What did he say to you guys?"

"He screamed, 'Notice me.' I have no idea what he meant, though," Takuya replied. "It's like he thinks we're blind or something."

Zoe rested her head on her legs. "He must always be lonely," she said sadly. "He did say that his parents got divorced when he was little and Koichi didn't even know about Koji until not too long ago. Then their first meeting happened… that must've really shook him up."

Takuya frowned. "I don't know…" he answered. "I understand what you mean but he shouted it at us, _not _at Koji. There must've been something else."

The blond shrugged, not answering. For a short while, the two watched the clouds as the passed over the three moons until they both felt tired enough to go to sleep and went to awake a grumpy Strabimon for the next watch. Only a few seconds after hitting the hay, both humans fell asleep to have good dreams, provided by a grateful Bakumon.

**Chapter 5: End.**

**This chapter's done! I actually loved writing this one quite a bit. It allowed me to look even deeper into their character. I really need to do that more often. The title was originally going to be "Deep Within", named after the Within Temptation song by the same name but "In The Dark" came to mind when I heard the Flyleaf song by the same name. I liked it a bit better. After listening to it, I find that it fits Duskmon/Koichi very well here.**

**Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter. See everyone next update!**


	7. Chapter 6: Stand My Ground

**A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. Thanks to Journey, Tri-Emperor of Twilight, darkhaseo90, and Immortal Fallen Radiance for reviewing. I'm glad you're all enjoying it so far. ^^**

**Disclaimer: Digimon is owned by other people. I'm not "other people" since I'm only one person, so how can I own Digimon?**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 6: Stand My Ground

It was getting late, so they began making camp. Tommy seemed to have gotten over the episode of homesickness in the Television Forest but even days later, he didn't seem to know what had happened when he was under the Bakumon's spell; for him it was like a dream that if you slept through it, you wouldn't remember it. The other four stayed quiet about it but Koichi's own outburst was eating at the others, mainly Takuya.

Since he couldn't sleep, he had taken the first watch. They had determined a routine for who would watch the camp developed by their own sleeping habits. Takuya would take the first watch since he was a bit of an insomniac. He would be followed by Zoe who often had to always go to the bathroom and thus would be up for a while afterwards. Then JP, Bokomon, and Neemon would have their turn, followed by Strabimon, then Koichi and Tommy until dawn to allow Tommy a chance to not be groggy in the mornings and because Koichi was always the early bird of the group.

Takuya poked the fire with a stick, memorized slightly with the flame. His family hadn't gone on many camping trips since his father was a busy man with work most of the time and his mother wasn't an outdoors kind of person. Whenever they did go with family though, his father had taught him how to build a fire. That was really the only time he thought that his family was together until Shinya had to ruin it all…

Takuya shook his head before pounding the side of his head softly with his fist. He turned to look over at Tommy. The boy did remind him of his little brother but at the same time, he was even different. He was always the little brother he wanted. Tommy listened to him and followed him around. Sure he cried but he was brave… but so was Shinya brave but selfish. The world always revolved around him and if he didn't get his own way, he'd ball his brains out.

At that, Takuya threw a new stick into the fire. It just felt natural that the fire should be the same level as his anger but than again, he wasn't a complete pyromaniac. Deciding to think about another subject, he turned to look over at Koichi.

"_Notice me!"_

"_He must always be lonely."_

_There must be something more we don't know about…_ Takuya sighed. _Couldn't hurt to ask, I guess but what's more important right now is finding those Beast Spirits._ The boy gave out a yawn, hoping to get his turn at a turn to rest.

As if on cue, he saw the movement of Zoe's silhouette as she gave out a stifled yawn and would go to take Takuya's place by the fire so the leader would take his turn sleeping. The two bade each other night before going to exchange tasks.

Sleep had come easily for Takuya, though it wasn't riddled with various dreams, most he wouldn't remember anyway.

X::::::::::X

"Takuya, you're the older brother. I'd thought you'd behave better than this!""But, Mom… You never listen to me! Why do you always take his side? He isn't as innocent as you think he is!"

X::::::::::X

The next morning, they sat around the fire, debating on what to do next. They needed to get to the Forest Terminal immediately but they also still had to collect the Beast Spirits also but the question was whether or not go on a wild goose chase or head towards the Forest Terminal and into God knew what.

"We do need to be prepared just in case," Takuya pointed out. "These Beast Spirits may give us some form of edge."

"Yeah but that lady's voice sounded urgent," Zoe stated, referring to the time when they had gotten the message to head towards the Forest Terminal. "There may be some sort of time limit to it."

"Zoe is right," JP quickly agreed with the blond, "but so is Takuya. We can't really waste time going on a wild goose chase."

"But chasing geese sounds fun!" Neemon cut in but was quickly quieted by Bokomon.

"Can't we get the Beast Spirits as we go?" suggested Tommy. The group looked over at them. "The Spirits were there when we needed them and we had no idea where they were. Can't we maybe run into them on our way to the Forest Terminal?"

Takuya, Zoe, JP, and Koichi exchanged looks. The boy did have a point. "I guess we could do it like that," the four said. Strabimon rolled his eyes. _How can they be the Spirit holders with a plan like that?_

"Just…what is in the Forest Terminal that's so important?" Koichi piped up curiously. No one answered.

Bokomon pulled out his book and scanned through the article that covered the Forest Terminal. "Well, there isn't much about it," Bokomon stated. "The only thing of importance is maybe the Crystal Castle where the Great Angels ruled until civil war broke out but according to rumor, Seraphimon was killed in battle and Ophanimon disappeared."

Takuya folded his arms. "Well, that a load of help," JP sighed sarcastically. "Is there a way to figure out what we're going to run into?"

"Do we really have to? I mean all we can really do is wing it. That's really all we've done so far," Takuya said.

"JP is right though," Zoe said with a frown. "It just doesn't seem right that we have to do all this work and not know what's going on."

"Problem: How are we supposed to know what we're doing? Go to a fortune teller to get our futures read?" Takuya pointed out, crossing his arms. "Besides, you did mention that we are already running out of time."

"Actually, that could work," Bokomon cut in.

"Huh?" came the chorus of voices.

X::::::::::X

"You're kidding me," JP muttered. "Fortune telling?"

Bokomon looked up at him. "It's actually much more accurate than you think, JP," Bokomon answered. "Why, don't you believe in destiny?"

"_Destiny_ is something we choose through actions in our life," the older boy replied, folding his arms in annoyance.

"Well, that's a rather strange thing to think since you work with street magic," Zoe countered, folding her arms.

JP didn't answer and flushed from embarrassment.

"Well, we might as well get going," suggested Takuya, looking around. Tents of varying colors were set up neatly. The small streets were crowded with Digimon waiting for their fortunes to be told.

As they continued through following Bokomon, several different Digimon called out to them with varying techniques to telling their fortunes. Many didn't even look professional at all, as Zoe noted. Bokomon even stated that several of them were frauds and scam artists.

"Few Digimon posses the power to see the future and give predictions of the future," he stated. "Taomon are able to give fortunes but Shamanmon and a few Sepikmon have been known to see the future. It was even stated that AncientWisemon was once able to predict the future."

Bokomon led them to a temple made out of stone. He pushed open the doors and walked inside with the children following him.

Koichi looked around, the place before him felt… off. Upon looking around, for a second, he saw a tall ghastly figure but before Koichi could even register it as a solid creature, the figure disappeared as if it was never there. The boy shivered slightly.

"You okay?" asked Tommy, looking back at the dark haired boy.

"I'm fine," Koichi said, not even thinking about how pale he looked. Even the boy picked up on it.

"You sure?" he asked, walking over to him. "It looked like you've seen a ghost." With him saying that, Tommy shivered. "N-not like I'm scared of them or anything."

Koichi smiled. "Don't worry. I'm fine," he answered. "I'm sure that they're no ghosts here."

Tommy let out a sigh of relief.

"Who's there?" came a voice from before them. A creature that looked a lot like an orger with a blond Mohawk.

"Wary travelers that are seeking help," answered Bokomon, leading them closer to the Digimon. The Digimon turned towards them, a wooden club in hand and a smirk on his face. Bokomon could sense their instant tensing and insisted nothing was going to happen. "Don't worry, he's a good guy. This is Shamanmon."

"Guidance you'll get then," he grunted before starting to do a strange dance. "Be careful of your future. Destiny has started to spin but what is what? As long as you remember who you are, you shall be fine."

The humans looked at him as if he was crazy. "Yeah, all right then," JP stated.

"He seems crazier than those other fortune tellers," Takuya said to Tommy.

"Fine, then what are you here for?" he asked, folding his arms, annoyed by the accusation.

"We want to know what we're supposed to seek at the Forest Terminal," Zoe piped up. "Do you think you can shed some light on it?"

"And none of that stupid dancing," added Strabimon, glaring at him.

Shamanmon ignored the last comment before he started to dance. "I see much confusion ahead. Within a castle of crystal, a great awakening needs to be achieved but in order to get there, you'll go through strife," he predicted.

This however didn't seem to be enough for them. "Anything about what it is?" asked Koichi.

"That is for you to find out," Shamanmon answered. "The future is a fickle thing and is hazy to even me. This is the path that I see you on. Make a decision that doesn't lead up to it, then the future may change. What it is, though, is all up to you."

"Give us a straight answer, will you?" shouted Strabimon angrily. Riddles… much like his existence…

"The future for you, all… A heavy decision rests on the one of the one of pride; a loose of a foe in a friend and a friend in a foe will lead the destinies to be set right. You should be careful because before you is strife waiting to lunge. Make the wrong decision could lead to even more. Remember who you are and everything shall turn out fine."

"'A friend in a foe and foe in a friend'?" the others echoed, staring at each other.

"More riddles," grumbled Strabimon, throwing a glance at the Digimon.

"Still sounds like he's been smoking crack," Takuya muttered under his breath. "Thanks, I guess." With that, the five began turning away but a sudden rumble of the earth startled them. After a few seconds, the earthquake was over and the group ran outside, expecting the worst and the worst it was.

Meanwhile, Shamanmon watched them go with dread filling his heart. Not too long ago, he had foreseen mass destruction. Was this happening now? _I wish I could do more than tell fortunes… _Suddenly, the groan of a large rock echoed through the confinements of the temple and a bright light filled the room. The fortuneteller looked behind him, seeing nothing but a figure obscure by the light of flames burning white-hot.

_Wish for power? Then take mine…_

Shamanmon had no chance to answer.

X::::::::::X

Just at the edge of the village, they could make out a large fissure and from the screams in the distance, they could guess that it was Grumblemon. Takuya, Zoe, JP, and Tommy quickly Spirit Evolved and began running off in the direction of the destruction. Despite Koichi's ordinary meekness, he ran alongside Strabimon, slightly trailing behind everyone else.

As the others continued ahead, a figure suddenly crashed headlong into Strabimon, making them tumble into a nearby tent. Koichi stopped, looking at the fight, completely forgetting about his original destination.

"Strabimon!" he shouted, rushing up to the tent but was forced to stop, someone grabbing him roughly by the arm. He spun around and was forced to the ground. As soon as he hit the ground, Koichi rolled onto his side, only to gaze up at his brother. Shock froze his body and the cold stare from the boy's blue eyes sent shivers down his spin.

The two kept a locked gaze at each other, Koichi out of fear and Koji out of curiosity, though it didn't show on his face. "_Who_ are you?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes. "And how do you know me?"

Koichi didn't answer and he hated it. He hated how scared he always acted, how he always knew he could say something or stop it but was always too nervous to say anything. Even worse, he hated how useless he always felt while the others could fight. And now, he couldn't make himself speak. It was like his voice was nonexistent. All the mental preparation he had done, it had fallen through.

"Well?" Koji pushed, his glare hardening.

"Koichi," the boy answered hesitantly, forcing himself to keep his gaze up. "I'm-." That was as far as he got. Just in time, Koji moved aside, startled by the sudden surprise attack. Strabimon landed right next to Koichi and glared at the boy.

"You _stay_ away from my partner," he snarled. "Litch Nagel!" With claws, Strabimon swiped at the human who ducked and tried sweeping his feet from under the Digimon but didn't have the chance to as the other claw followed him, forcing the boy to roll out of the way and onto his feet.

Gazimon came up to his partner, sliced up decently from his small scuffle with the demon man Digimon. "You weren't able to finish off that boy?" the weasel Digimon commented disdainfully.

Koji didn't answer, glaring at the human boy. He pulled out a small orb that was deep black and gave off an eerie and deadly red aura. A chill was sent down both Digimon and his partner's spines, though the former was able to control it more than the latter.

Gazimon began to unweave into a black fractal code and into a Spirit like form that reeked of negative emotions, sending a wave of fear coursing through Koichi. It felt… wrong in some way. Entirely wrong but he didn't know how or why.

The orb began to shine with dark energies as the Spirit engulfed Koji when he shouted, "Spirit Evolution!" The darkness began to take a shape before fading into a body of a tall and lean man resembling a black devil with tattered wings with arms so long that they reached to his feet. Shining red eyes gazed at the two, as if blood thirsty before it gave out a shriek of pain.

"Koji…" Koichi rose, his eyes wide with a mixture of fear and concern. Strabimon felt a pain in his chest.

Within Koji, a voice flew through his head that he could recognize as his master's voice echoing through his head. _You still haven't let go of your heart. Let the darkness take your confusion and let it consume you. Let go of your heart…_

It was hard. Even as the pain raged in his mind, something in the back of his mind told him something was terribly wrong but he just wanted it to stop. The crushing emotions were almost too much… too much… Then he let it all go, painting his consciousness black and closing his heart, making all the pain disappear for blissful emptiness.

Now, he was more in tune with his Spirit of Darkness than he had ever been.

"Koji?" Koichi asked carefully.

"Koji?" the creature repeated, casting cold red eyes at him before giving him a bloody thirst smile, making Koichi's skin crawl. "That name no longer exists. I am Devimon."

"Whatever," Strabimon simply muttered, flying into battle.

X::::::::::X

Dodging hammer attacks were hard enough but adding the Sulfur Plume attack from the Golemon only made it twice as hard. It only took one attack to get them to get that the rock Digimon wouldn't go down so easily. And it only took one hit for them to get that they wouldn't stand up to too much of his attack.

Deciding that it would be a good idea to split into groups to attack, Kumamon, Kazemon, and Beetlemon all took on Golemon while Agunimon took Grumblemon.

Attacks, one by one, hit Golemon with no seen physical effect. "This isn't going so well," stated Bokomon, his eyes wide as Golemon had unleashed a blast of Sulfur Plume attack, sending the three backwards.

Meanwhile, Agunimon seemed to be having a bit more luck. He had managed to get in a few attacks before being forced to take a farther distance to dodge his hammer attack. Agunimon tried getting closer but was forced to remain at a distance so he could dodge the hammers. Finally, Grumblemon had tried swiping him sideways but Agunimon jumped towards Grumblemon with enough air below him to dodge the hammer. He spun around and unleashed a roundhouse kick, knocking Grumblemon off balance enough to make him stumble for even footing.

Agunimon quickly unleashed a fire dragon from his gauntlets and the blaze engulfed Grumblemon. The Warrior of Earth gave out a cry of pain before it died down. Agunimon gave out a cheer but it was short lived when a blast of Sulfur Plume hit him, sending him into a pillar.

Grumblemon popped out of the ground next to Golemon. He shouted, jabbing a finger at the Flame Warrior, "Stupid Fire. Me angry now! Slide Evolution!"

He was wrapped in a Fractal Code and when it dissolved, a troll looking Digimon stood where Grumblemon had been. "See what humans think of Gigasmon!" he shouted.

"_That's _a Beast Spirit?" Kazemon shouted, forcing herself up.

"Come on, guys!" Agunimon cried to the others, getting up out of the rubble himself. The others followed suit. The four began running into battle, firing their own elemental attacks. Gigasmon just stood there for a seconds before smirking and extending his arms and spinning around like a top.

"Quagmire Twister!" The attacks were easily muffled by Gigasmon's attack when they collided. Gigasmon then stopped spinning before jumping away and allowing Golemon to unleash a blast of sulfur at Agunimon and Kumamon, sending them flying backwards once again just as Gigasmon launched himself into the air with surprising agility and throwing a punch at the closest airborne Digimon, happening to be Kazemon, who had little time to react.

The attack hit her hard in the gut, knocking the air out of her lungs. She barely had time to catch it when Gigasmon had grabbed her by her ankles and slamming her hard into the ground. Pain washed over her and her vision became hazy, threatening to blacken out. She struggled to remain conscious but ended up loosing and also loosing her Fractal Code, wrapping around the girl and showing her Spirit. Gigasmon simply smirked and made a grab for her Spirit and not even bothering with her Fractal Code.

"Yummy Spirit," he said gleefully, popping the Spirit into his mouth like it was candy.

"Zoe!" shouted Beetlemon. He electrified his horn and began diving in towards the troll Digimon. Gigasmon didn't even see it coming and turned towards Beetlemon, just as he hit him in the chest and driving him away from Zoe.

Even with Gigasmon, Beetlemon didn't let the barrage of punches stop. After a few hits, Gigasmon grabbed his hand and used it to flip the blue beetle Digimon over him. The two began to rise and during this time, Agunimon and Kumamon had raced over to them.

Agunimon jumped in to grab the unconscious blonde and leap away, barely being missed by a Sulfur Plume attack. He flipped away and watched Kumamon come to Beetlemon's rescue, allowing the said Digimon to unleash a well aimed thunderbolt and allowed the to back up enough to fall in line with Agunimon.

"Well now what, genius?" Beetlemon asked.

"Where the hell is Strabimon?" shouted Agunimon. "We're getting pummeled and he's off playing chicken!"

"Maybe he's with Koichi, Bokomon, and Neemon?" suggested Kumamon. "But what are we supposed to do now, Takuya?"

"I-I… I don't know," the Flame Warrior admitted. He glanced down at the sleeping girl in his arms. As hurt as she look, she look tranquil. Agunimon looked up at Gigasmon and Golemon, who were both starting to close in on them. What could he do?

He couldn't just wait for a miracle.

X::::::::::X

Koichi just watched, eyes wide. Devimon was easily beating around Strabimon as if he was a rag doll. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Strabimon was too stubborn to admit defeat, even after getting pretty marred up but that only meant that he was too slow to dodge another blow.

Devimon could easily read this in the panting Digimon and so could Koichi.

"Koji, please stop!" he pleaded, taking a step forwards.

The Digimon turned back to him, red eyes glaring at him blankly. "Refer to me by my right name," he said in a hollow tone. "There's no point for something as weak as you. I don't even understand why this _thing_ is protecting something as worthless as you."

Koichi gritted his teeth and bowed his head as the words cut. "It's true I'm weak," he admitted, frustrated. "I always ran from fights. I never did stand up for myself… I hate it… I want to change…but…"

Strabimon turned his gaze over at the boy. For a second, he could feel the boy's uncertainty and helplessness. The Digimon narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, you are weak!" Strabimon shouted. "But the weak are afraid to change who they are. If you hate being weak, then change it! The weak run and hide from their problems. Do you honestly want to be like that forever? If so, then you don't deserve the power of the Spirits!"

Koichi snapped his gaze up at Devimon, who was now tired of the prattle, raised his claw to swipe the boy out of existence. Fear coursed through him and Strabimon's words rang in his ears. He put on a brave face. "Strabimon is right. I may be weak now but I just might be strong enough to change myself," he said with a solid tone. With each word, his confidence gathered. "I want to help my friends and that means I can't run. I have to start standing my ground… And it starts NOW!"

Devimon simply grunted in annoyance. "Whatever you say," he said simply, starting to bring his claw down.

Koichi threw himself out of the way and rolled to his feet and ran towards Strabimon. The dark haired boy looked at the wolf Digimon with a smile and determination glittering in his eyes. "Thanks," he said quickly before reaching into his pocket to pull out his black and gray D-tector. He threw it into the air as the screen began shinning with the crest of the Spirit of Light. Strabimon himself began glowing the same light.

"Wha…?" he began, completely confused. He looked towards his partner, who didn't even seem to be confused in the slightest. In fact, Koichi looked entirely in control.

He caught the D-tector in his hand and shouted, "Spirit Evolution!"

Strabimon turned into a Fractal Code strip and began engulfing Koichi, having it change into a new form.

Devimon watched without any reaction as the light and Fractal Code faded away to reveal a white Digimon that looked much like an organic gargoyle with white wings and silver restraints all over his body.

It was nothing like Koichi had ever felt. _Is this the same kind of power that the others felt?_ he thought, amazed.

"_Don't just sit there idly!" _shouted the voice in his head. He automatically recognized it as Strabimon's. _"We don NOT have time for this, kid. It's all your show now so prove to me that you aren't weak!"_

_On it, on it,_ Koichi answered. Gargoylemon, Koichi's new form, felt awkward to him. He didn't know why but he didn't have enough time to determine what it was when Devimon flew at him, sending a blast of energy from his wing.

Gargoylemon flew out of the way and cried, "Black Statue!" From the ground, a statue looking like a six-winged angel came out of the ground. Its eyes glowed before launching blast of orange energy from its fist.

Devimon flew into the air to dodge the attack and Gargoylemon followed. He flapped his wings as hard as he could, unleashing a freezing wind freezing Devimon's wings. Then Gargoylemon commanded the statue to fly into the air and fire beams of light at Devimon, hitting him right in the chest.

The giant devil Digimon fell to the earth, shattering the ice that coated his wings. Devimon narrowed his eyes before getting to his feet and staring at Gargoylemon as he hovered down until he was just a few feet above the earth, his statue not far behind him.

"Koji, can you please, do we have to fight?" Gargoylemon asked.

"Stop calling me that," Devimon answered, preparing to launch several lasers from his wings but stopped short. A roaring pain filled his head and his body began to shake. Even with the door to his heart closed, it wasn't fully locked.

"_Keep it together!"_ shouted Gazimon's voice in Koji's head.

_I can't,_ Koji answered, emotion starting to fill his hollow voice. _I can't…It's too much. Please, I need to make it stop._

"_Oh, no you won't! You're the prince of darkness!"_

_I can't control it. Not now. I… need to escape before…evolution…breaks…_

"Koji!" Devimon's vision registered the gargoyle Digimon right in front of him. Devimon swiped him away, a snarl fighting to escape his throat.

The Digimon stood straight up and gazed at Gargoylemon from where he landed. "For now, this battle shall remain a stalemate. Next time… Next time you won't be so lucky." And with that, Devimon began flying off.

Gargoylemon watched him go, the statue hovering forgotten. Conflicting feelings filled Koichi: one of relief that it was over and one of disbelief.

"_Hey! NOT now! Even if I don't like your friends, we have to find them," _Strabimon's voice filled his head. Koichi nodded. He pushed the feelings away and began racing towards the direction his comrades had raced.

**Chapter 6: End.**

**Hey guys! Ever had one of those chapters that you had planned and went a different way? Well, this is one of those chapters. Let's just say that if I went with how I was going to do it, it would seem a bit too much like one of the chapters from **_**Yang-Yin**_** by Akino Ame while it's bad enough that the beginning chapter highly resembles the first couple of chapters of **_**Fated **_**by Kilarra. I do admit that I was inspired by those two stories to write this one. Sorry about that.**

**Oh, yes, Devimon. I know that's **_**so original**_**. Well, hey, at least I didn't have Angemon in here. That would have turned out like Adventure all over again but where neither of them die. Ah, well. I know Gargoylemon's attacks don't seem to fit the area but take this into mind: Gargoylemon is the evolution of Veemon with the DigiEgg of Light. This alternate evolution idea is borrowed from the 02 CD drama and how the evolution works is kind of like Biomerging. Ah well. Hope you enjoyed it.**


	8. Chapter 7: The Secret Side

**A/N: Quick update, I know. I just wanted to really work on this next chapter. Anyway, thanks to Immortal Fallen Radiance, Kimiko Heroux, darkhaseo90, and Journey for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: I am not Toei or Bandai so I own nothing. Besides this plot…and my name.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 7: The Secret Side

Takuya hadn't expected a miracle, but that was what he got. Gigasmon had jumped at them and slammed his fists into the earth, making it rumble. Fortunately, Agunimon, Beetlemon, and Kumamon had managed to jump out of the way just in time. They backed up even more just as Gigasmon leapt at them again, making the three scatter to avoid the blow.

The next thing they knew was that a giant dragon wearing red and gold armor had rocketed towards the battle and knocked into Gigasmon, sending him flying into a pillar a few yards away which collapsed under the troll's weight.

The dragon gave off a horrible roar, making all three Hybrid Digimon shake with mainly Kumamon quaking in his boots.

"What is that?" asked Beetlemon, unsure if the creature was friend or foe; he wasn't even sure if it was even in _control_.

"I don't know," Agunimon shouted, uneasy himself.

Gigasmon forced himself to sit up, glaring at the dragon Digimon. "Get dragon, Golemon!" the troll Digimon ordered. Somehow, the Digimon ended up below the ground and in response to the order, the Golemon's hands grabbed the dragon's feet and began pulling it down into the earth.

The creature looked down alarmed before giving off a roar before it began flapping its wings in strong strokes with enough force to pull Golemon out of the ground and carry him into the sky. Agunimon, Kumamon, and Beetlemon watched in amazement as the dragon Digimon fired red and white energy bolts at the rock Digimon from its gold gun-like attachments on its arms. From the brunt force of an attack at such a close distance, Golemon was forced to let go of the dragon's clawed feet and fall to the earth. As the creature fell to the earth and turned to a wrapping of data, the three's amazement turned to sheer fear and hope that this powerhouse was on their side.

The creature hovered in spot like a hawk looking for its next prey only to find it in Gigasmon. It flew down towards the troll Digimon. Gigasmon must've feared its destructive power as he dove into the earth to disappear, shouting, "I go bye now!"

The creature crashed into the earth to try and dig Gigasmon out but he was gone, safe within his own element. The beast finally understood that its prey had escaped and gave out, letting out a furious cry.

Agunimon watched for a few brief seconds. There was something about that dragon that seemed almost off.

"Takuya!" came the shouts of a vaguely familiar voice. "JP! Tommy!"

The three turned to see a gargoyle looking Digimon carrying Bokomon and Neemon. The three prepared for battle but when the creature landed and allowed both Rookie level Digimon go, they saw that it was a friend and the fact that it knew their names…

"Koichi?" Beetlemon asked, blinking. The Digimon nodded.

"Where's Strabimon?" asked Kumamon, looking up at the new Hybrid.

"That's a hard one to explain," he answered, rubbing the back of his head. Then he noticed Zoe unconscious in Agunimon's arms. "What happened here? And what's that thing?"

"Bad news," Bokomon stated. "Let's get out of here before it notices us…"

Agunimon, casting a look over at the roaring Digimon, was unsure if he should leave it be but then he remembered that Zoe couldn't fight, being unconscious and all would put her in danger.

Beetlemon's voice brought him back to reality. "Agunimon, come on."

"Right," Agunimon agreed, turning to leave but he suddenly stopped short.

"_Save me."_

Beetlemon and Kumamon looked back at the Flame Warrior a look of surprise on his face. "Takuya, what's wrong?" asked Kumamon, confused.

"Didn't you hear it?" Agunimon asked, looking back at the dragon Digimon for reassurance that he wasn't just hearing stuff.

"Hear what?" Beeltmeon asked.

"_Please, help me! I was a fool to ask for such power…The Beast Spirit has taken me over. Please, Warrior of Flame, save me and take the power that is rightfully yours! Take BurningGreymon's power!"_

"It's Shamanmon… He has my Beast Spirit," Agunimon said.

"You're hearing things!" Beetlemon shouted, grabbing him by the arm. "Don't be stupid! That thing killed Golemon easily and it made Gigasmon run like a chicken! What the hell do you think you're going to be able to do against it?"

"Takuya, I may not have seen what happened but are you sure you're hearing everything right?" Gargoylemon asked, landing next to him. He looked at the roaring dragon that still didn't notice the gathering of Digimon.

"Koichi, I'm not crazy," Takuya insisted from beneath the armor. He turned and handed him Zoe's unconscious form before running into battle.

"Takuya, what the heck are you doing?"

At this moment, Zoe woke up groggily and rubbed her head. Before she could scream from surprise by the white Digimon's appearance, Gargoylemon quickly stated that he was Koichi. The blonde quickly understood and looked out over what was happening, curious on what JP was hollering about.

When she saw Agunimon quickly dodge a flaming tail swipe, she shouted, "What is he thinking?"

Agunimon jumped into the air and threw several fire punches at BurningGreymon that the Digimon easily blocked. Beetlemon and Kumamon ran in after him, unleashing a freezing wind and thunderbolt that only managed to annoy the dragon. BurningGreymon fired a barrage of the red hot energy bullets at them, shouting, "Pyro Barrage!"

The attack hit hard, making the three fall to the ground. Kumamon, having taken too much damage from his fight with Golemon, de-evolved into his human form. The creature let out a roar before engulfing himself in flames and rushing at the three. Beetlemon stood up and readied himself to catch the Digimon enough to bring it to a stop, allowing Tommy a chance to run.

The heat managed to cook JP a bit under the exoskeleton armor. BurningGreymon picked up the Warrior of Thunder and threw him towards where the rest of his opposing team stood. He was about to charge at them but Agunimon had managed to grab his attention again. He threw several punches but they were easily deflected and BurningGreymon knocked him to the ground.

Rage filled eyes glared down at the Flame Warrior as he remained pinned. BurningGreymon readied a finishing blow.

"TAKUYA!" the group shouted. "Get up!"

For a second, BurningGreymon faltered, as if Shamanmon had gained some control. Takuya saw his chance and launched a kick to an exposed spot on the Digimon's stomach and then rolled out of the way and to his feet before unleashing a small barrage of Pyro Punches and then finally ending it with a vicious kick.

Somehow, it was enough to make the Digimon's Fractal Code appear. A Spirit sat in the middle of the ring of data. Takuya pulled out his D-tector and scanned the data, grabbing the Beast Spirit. Red flags flashed in his head but it was too late as power flowed over him, threatening to take control. Being startled by the raw and primeval feeling of the power, Takuya had no chance to fight the feeling of animal rage took him over.

X::::::::::X

_"Takuya, you're the older brother. I'd thought you'd behave better than this!" shouted Mrs. Kanbara, glaring down at her son with remorse in her eyes._

_"But, Mom…" Takuya tried arguing, trying to get his side of the story out. He cut himself short, looking into his mother's eyes. Rage filled him as he roared, "You never listen to me! Why do you always take his side? He isn't as innocent as you think he is!"_

_But his mother wouldn't hear a thing of it. She slapped him hard across the cheek, tears starting to brim down her face. "Quit making excuses, Takuya Kanbara! I expected more of you but apparently, I was wrong. I'm disappointed Takuya," she said, her voice barely holding together before taking the crying boy in her arms to the hospital._

"You know you did that."

Takuya felt horrible. Of course he had done that; his rage had been hard to control. Back then, he shoved all the blame onto his younger brother.

"_He must be such a great older brother. He knows how to take care of him. I wish I could do that."_

"You know that that isn't true."

Takuya let another pang of guilt wash over him. _I don't even deserve to be a brother_, he thought to himself.

"That's right. You're afraid of making the same mistakes with everyone else."

Takuya didn't even answer.

X::::::::::X

Gargoylemon and Beetlemon were forced to try to bring Takuya back to his senses but it wasn't going well. They were easily batted away and tossed around like rag dolls. Tommy was too numb from shock to do anything.

Was this the same person who stood invincible to him? Was he the same person that protected him from Cerebumon? It was like the Takuya he knew was missing, disappeared off of the face of the planet. There was no way that this could be the Takuya…He couldn't have fallen to the Beast Spirit, could he?

Yet the shouts from the others told him that his hopes were for naught. The berserk BurningGreymon was Takuya under the armor. He watched helplessly with Zoe. There was nothing he could do to help. Even with a Spirit, he knew he would be able to help any. The two were being easily thrown around.

Zoe herself watched with the others. Beetlemon and Gargoylemon had raced into the partly dead forest in hopes that BurningGreymon would follow. Unfortunately, he took an easier way to getting at them and fired a round of Pyro Barrage, starting the forest aflame.

Zoe gasped. Would this happen if they all got their Beast Spirits?

"The forest is being barbequed! Tommy, do something!" Bokomon shrieked.

Tommy nodded hesitantly. He pulled out his D-tector and sent a chilling breeze into the forest, freezing the trees and stopping the flames. For now, it was something.

X::::::::::X

_I'm not stupid enough to make the same mistakes, _Takuya thought but the thought was filled with doubt. He tried his best to deny what the voice was telling him but it was too much; there was too much truth in its words.

"No. You know that isn't true so quit lying to yourself. Look at what you're doing now."

Suddenly, Takuya's vision was filled with wild flames burning the forest. Gargoylemon and Beetlemon were hurt badly, their armor slightly smudged with ashes and Gargoylemon's wings slightly charred. Beetlemon flew at him, knocking him to the ground while Gargoylemon unleashed a freezing wind from his wings.

_Wait, why am I fighting my friends?_

"They're the enemies."

The body acted on its own, grabbing Beetlemon off of him and raising, throwing him at Gargoylemon.

_No, they can't be._

"They are. They know of your mistakes that you've made with your little brother and they don't want those mistakes repeating. They're trying to kill you."

_No._

"Yes. If not, then why are they fighting you?"

Takuya didn't answer at first. Everything that the voice was saying did make sense. After a long pause, he finally admitted, _Maybe they are…_

X::::::::::X

The momentary pause was enough for Beetlemon to try and talk sense into him but it was to no avail. BurningGreymon let out a roar and flew off. The two looked at each other; they didn't think this was a good sign. They themselves took to the air.

"_Gez, how much can this thing take?" _Strabimon shouted.

_Takuya isn't a thing!_ Koichi thought then automatically regretted it.

Strabimon didn't answer at first. _"What the heck? How come you're bolder in your mind than out loud?"_

_This isn't really the time for that._

X::::::::::X

The four began making their way away from the forest. Zoe sighed. "Isn't there something we can do?" she asked, Kumamon following her.

"Afraid not," answered Bokomon. "Takuya's going to have to figure it out on his own. Sooner or later, he'll be able to control it."

"I'm worried about the later," Neemon stated. For once, it wasn't a random statement that was meet with a snap of his waistband. It stated the fear weighing on all their minds: _would_ Takuya be able to control his Beast Spirit _ever_?

Suddenly, a rock before them was crushed as BurningGreymon landed on it and let out a roar. Fear coursed through them. "Back to the forest!" cried Bokomon, rushing to the forest. Neemon followed him, shouting hysterically.

Zoe took two steps in a movement to follow them but stopped. She looked back, Kumamon hadn't moved at all. Beetlemon and Gargoylemon had flown in and tried to get the raging beast to get down and stay down but it didn't work, once again, they were just thrown aside.

She walked up behind Kumamon, hands clenched around each other. _Takuya…_

Kumamon's eyes were watery. "Takuya…is this really you?" he asked, his voice carrying doubt and disbelief. _Can I really do nothing to help? Even as Kumamon, I can do so much…I can't even stand up for myself back at home. All ways running away…but…_

He watched as BurningGreymon rushed at the down Gargoylemon who looked too injured to fight. Gargoylemon was sent airborne and was hit by a Pyro Barrage. Finally, his evolution gave out, turning him back into Koichi and Strabimon, who were both caught awkwardly by Beetlemon. He readied for another blow.

Kumamon suddenly felt a burst of confidence unlike the one he felt when he fought the Candlemon. _That's right, I decided I never wanted to run again._

"Takuya!" Kumamon shouted, gaining the Digimon's attention. He turned towards him forgetting about his original target. "Takuya, this isn't you! I know you can't do this. We're your friends…" He took a step forwards and BurningGreymon took another step back.

X::::::::::X

_Tommy?_ Takuya couldn't believe it. He hesitated as Kumamon kept talking.

"The child's lying!"

Takuya paused again. No, there was no way Tommy was lying.

"Takuya, we don't want to hurt you," Tommy continued, taking a step forwards. "They didn't do anything to you. I had a nightmare where I was being tricked into fighting everyone but you made me understand that you weren't my enemies. You told me that only bullies pick on the weak and that I was strong. Takuya, I know you're strong enough to fight this! Please…"

Takuya watched as a tear fell from Tommy's eyes. He was speechless. _"Takuya, you big jerk!" Shinya wailed, clutching his broken arm._

"Don't listen to him."

"Takuya! Listen to Tommy!" Zoe's voice shouted, breaking the silence. "It's true! It's all true!"

"Yeah!" came a chorus of JP and Koichi's voices.

"Don't-!"

Takuya bowed his head. _How can I be so stupid to not think that I'm making the same mistake? I did the same thing with my brother. I let my fear of taking responsibility take control of me and I've done it again! I didn't want this to happen…yet I have. I'm a complete idiot…_

The voice made no comment to try and make him believe that his friends were plotting against him, leaving the boy in agonizing silence as a feeling of guilt wash over him.

X::::::::::X

Everyone watched in surprise as BurningGreymon let out a roar, though this roar didn't sound anything like the battle cry. It sounded more like a roar a creature in sadness would make. BurningGreymon collapsed and pounded his head on the nearest rock until it collapsed from the stress, where he remained motionless for a few seconds before de-evolving into a sobbing Takuya.

No one moved or said anything. It was finally Zoe who made the first move. She cautiously walked up behind Kumamon, who de-evolved into Tommy. He looked up at Zoe, frowning. "Why is Takuya crying?" he asked, concernedly.

Zoe placed a hand on his giant orange hat and didn't answer. JP, Koichi, and Strabimon joined them and they stood in silence. Even Strabimon didn't make a jab at the boy. Again, it was Zoe who made the first move. She approached him carefully, placing a hand on his back but unsure of what to say. This was really her first time comforting someone after they had a breakdown, so she decided to just wing it.

"Hey, Takuya…" she began, "maybe we should begin heading out."

Takuya didn't answer, so Zoe was forced to try again. "Come on, let's get going. Grumblemon could come back… and the others are most likely hurt. Maybe we should find supplies and patch things up?"

"It would be better if Grumblemon came back," he said through his sobs. "I was stupid to…! So stupid."

"We all have our stupid moments," JP stated, coming up from behind him. "We all have weak moments. Zoe is right though, we can't stay here forever. Grumblemon may eventually decide to come back."

"Or Koji," added Koichi, following him with Tommy by his side.

"…Alright," agreed Takuya. He rose and followed the others as they searched through the tents for possible supplies that could be used for medical supplies. Shamanmon following them in thanks for helping him, though Takuya remained numb to everything.

After managing to gather some ointments and some clothe from various tents to be used as bandages or cleaning clothes, they found a place by a river to set up came for the night. Even upon inspection, the wounds remained as minor burns on Koichi and JP and bruises on everyone else. The only one with the worst wounds was Strabimon but they were simply cuts and touchy bruises from fighting with Gazimon and being tossed around by Devimon.

As JP, the least hurt among them, helped Takuya, the boy noticed that the goggle-head shrunk away from him. He sighed but made no comment on it, allowing Takuya to continue sulking by the river and away from the others, where he stayed until dinner was ready.

After the campfire was made and dinner was cooking, Takuya still hadn't moved, watching the moving current of the river as if hypnotized by it.

The four humans looked at each other. Tommy finally decided to speak up. "Can't we help Takuya?" he asked. "I hate seeing him sad."

"This is something we have to let Takuya get through on his own," JP said, taking a bite of his meat apple. He swallowed and continued, "This isn't like fighting a Beast Spirit. The demon isn't a material thing but a mental one."

"Still," Zoe sighed.

Koichi prodded the fire, casting a look at the unmoving boy. After his grandmother's death, he remained on his own. When his mother had tried to comfort him, he had shied away but he always regretted it. But he knew that Takuya's predicament was different. He wasn't looking for solace but instead it was forgiveness.

"But the question is if Takuya can get over it," he stated.

JP sighed.

Tommy looked over at his idol. He got up and decided to walk over to the older boy and sat next to him. "Takuya, um…Are you okay?" he asked carefully and worriedly.

This snapped Takuya out of his funk enough to make him jump from surprise. He registered what the boy had asked and looked back at the water. "I should be asking you guys that," he answered bitterly before glaring at his reflection as if in hopes to burn a hole through his own skull.

Tommy cocked his head to the side. "We're all fine," he answered, confused. "How about you come with us to eat?"

He looked towards the others that sat around the campfire. They were all watching them, making Takuya feel on edge. _Why aren't they glaring at me? After what I nearly did…_

He was taken aback when he saw Zoe and Koichi break out into hopeful smiles and JP shouted for the two to come over to them. "Come on before all the meat apples are eaten by Neemon!"

"Trust me, he's a bottomless pit!" added Bokomon, smacking Neemon away from one of Tommy's cooked meat apples.

A smile crossed Takuya's face slowly. "All right!" he called back, getting up and slowly walking over to them. Takuya took the apple that JP offered to him thankfully.

"Hey, look, Takuya, you don't have to sulk the entire journey," JP said as Takuya sat down next to him. "We're all here together, so it's going to be hard to actually do something with a brooder."

"Besides, Strabimon already has that spot taken," pointed out Koichi. Everyone paused before letting out a laugh. That was the first time that they had ever heard Koichi poke fun at anyone. Koichi himself flushed a few shades of red and gave out a semi-nervous smile before looking at Strabimon, in hopes of not ending up with an annoyed Digimon. Strabimon snorted before looking away.

Takuya felt grateful. His friends were so forgiving but his rashness decided to try to break it. "How come you're all forgiving me so easily?" he asked suddenly.

The four looked at each other. "Well, you weren't exactly in control," Bokomon explained. "The Beast Spirit, as pointed out in the book, is said to be nothing but pure animal instinct as well as raw power. It's only understandable that something like that happened." The small gnome Digimon pulled out the green book to make sure that Takuya wasn't thinking he was making it up. "You see here…"

"Hey, Bokomon, are you sure that's helping?" Neemon pointed out, indicating towards Takuya. Bokomon was about to smack him with his book but stopped when Takuya began speaking, making the yellow rabbit's statement valid.

"That's not why," Takuya said. "I wasn't in control. It wasn't the Beast Spirit but my fear. I truthfully did want to hurt everyone then. Then Tommy stood up to me, even when I was throwing you two around." He said the last bit, casting a thankful look over at their youngest member.

Tommy blushed. "I-it wasn't anything special," he said, "but you're welcome."

"No, it wasn't anything but the bravest thing I've ever seen," Takuya insisted. "Thanks, buddy. And both of you," he added, turning towards JP, Koichi, and Strabimon, "you guys deserve some credit for trying to get me back to reality."

The two returned with their own smiles, Koichi flushing even redder than he had before.

"Ah, the trials of friendship," Bokomon sighed. "Keep note, the rest of you. You'll all have to get your Beast Spirits."

"Yeah, but first we'll have to get Zoe's Spirit back first," pointed out Strabimon.

The sudden reminder hit the blonde like a freight train. She sighed sadly, "Yeah."

"Strabimon!" shouted Takuya and JP, ready to get into a fistfight but it was Koichi who came between the three before it could even get farther. Even if the fistfight was adverted, it was throwing into a trash-talking contest that eventually annoyed Zoe into doing something. The next thing, Takuya, JP, and Strabimon knew that Zoe didn't need a Spirit to make their heads to have even worse bruises than they had gained from their fight with Grumblemon, Golemon, and the rampaging BurningGreymon combined.

It was just an average night in their adventure.

X::::::::::X

The evolution had given out not but a few hours ago but Koji remained immobile in the safe branches of a tree, Gazimon below him, staring up at him. The weasel frowned. Why was he remaining up there? Despite the brief sharing of consciousness, the experience left him confused. Why was the boy afraid of what he was meant to be? It was something Gazimon didn't want to experience again, if he had a choice.

Koji remained in the tree. He was the Warrior of Darkness, the "prince" that would lead the world into the purest form of his element. This had been the first time using that power; the only reason he refrained from using it was because he didn't see the need to…until today.

The feeling of emptiness…It felt good-oh so good but at the same time, it terrified Koji to no ends. He didn't know exactly why but all he could do was guess. Every Digimon was afraid of the Dark Continent because of the mysteries that surrounded it and the unknowing mass it represented. The majesty of the mystery of why the sky over the area remained in constant cloud cover where the light of the sun never reached but yet bowed to let the moonlight to penetrate and hit the ground. He assumed that this was the same reasoning: the fear of the unknown. He had no idea of what it was like to live without feelings and when the Spirit called for him to throw it all away, he couldn't.

Below, Gigasmon popped out of the ground, looking around. He quickly reverted to Grumblemon. "Where 'prince' is?" he asked curtly, looking at Gazimon. The weasel Digimon pointed up at the tree.

Grumblemon muttered something under his breath before pulling out his hammer and hitting the tree light enough to make the tree shake and only threaten to topple. Koji was jostled around, holding tight to the large branch that he rested on so he wouldn't free fall out of the tree. After the tree regained stabibility and Koji felt that it wasn't going to suddenly shake again, stole a glance down at the ground. His gaze fixed into its ordinary glare as he saw the Warrior of Earth below. _Figures, _he thought disdainfully, _the arrogant moron would do something like that._

Grumblemon returned the angry stare with a smirk. "Stupid prince going to be late! Master call for us!" he called up.

"Yeah, normally you'd like me being late," Koji shouted back down. "Let me guess, Mercurymon sent you to make sure that I came. That pompous 'gentleman' can never do anything himself and manipulates the pea brain."

Grumblemon narrowed his eyes, namely at the remark about him being used and not the "pea brain" part. "You want be crushed?" he threatened, readying his hammer and not caring this time if he let the tree topple.

Gazimon snorted, annoyed. "Master Cherubimon would surely kill you," he reminded him. He then turned his gaze towards his partner. "Come on, Koji. Master Cherubimon wants to see us all and we don't want to keep him waiting."

"Fine," Koji relented, finally starting to scale down the tree.

That was when Grumblemon thought it'd be cute to make the tree wobble again, knocking the "Prince of Darkness" down from the tree. Fortunately, it happened to be less than six feet and Koji only ended up winded after his descent.

"That for disrespect," the Digimon explained proudly, pointing his hammer at him. "No one disrespect Grumblemon."

Gazimon stood there for a few minutes, waiting for his partner to catch his breath after he sat up. "One of these days, that oaf is going to have his pride be his downfall," he muttered.

**Chapter 7: End.**

**I know I normally update **_**Fallen World**_** before a new chapter of this but I just felt like wrapping up that little two-parter. A little look into Takuya's passed, at least in this version. I know Takuya doesn't seem like it in the series but I wouldn't put it past him to be jealous of his little brother, namely with that flashback though in it, they did start getting along better but just like siblings, it was a one time deal that would be repeated a couple of times.**

**Oh, and to specify on what happened to Shinya, Takuya somehow caused Shinya to accidentally break his arm after he got angry. I may expand on it a bit more eventually. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!**


	9. Chapter 8: Cherubimon's Warriors

**A/N: Long time no update! Sorry about that everyone but life keeps getting in the way. Thanks to darkhaseo90, luv2write and laugh, Immortal Fallen Radiance, Starowner, Umeplumblossom, and howling for reviewing. Hope you all like this chapter.**

**I apologize in advance for Mercurymon's talking ability! I hate writing middle/early modern/Shakespearean/Victorian English. It's a pain in the royal butt so it's going to sound God awful weird. Just as a note, with the other characters, Mercurymon speaks in the informal (thou, thee, ect) but to Cherubimon, he speaks formally (ye, you, ect.) (which also happens to be the same as plural).**

**Disclaimer: I have absolutely NO ownership of Digimon. Redundant, right? But it's still true.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 8: Cherubimon's Warriors

Koji and Gazimon followed the tunnels that spread around the Digital World. The only ones who could navigate them were the majority of Cherubimon's Warriors, though Mercurymon rather relied on his mirrors for transportation. They had used the tunnels to easily get around after Grumblemon had dug his way throughout the Digital World time and again while looking for the Spirits for their lord, master, and creator. Though on the creator part, Koji was now skeptical on it. He never said anything about making more creatures like him...and that boy...

"Koji, thinking is dangerous. A prime example of that is Grumblemon," stated Gazimon with a sneer at the dwarf Digimon. Fortunately, he was farther ahead and Grumblemon hadn't heard a thing.

Koji snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at his partner. "Someone has to do it around here," he muttered. Gazimon snickered and continued walking.

"We here!" announced Grumblemon before he started climbing up the tunnel that lead upwards. Koji and Gazimon followed. When they emerged, they came upon the hideout. It was a basic structure with tunnels leading outside. Holes littered the ground that lead to the maze below their feet and pillars held the building up, if it ever threatened to collapse.

Only enough light to vaguely make out colors could be seen. Three figures stood waiting in a very wide circle. Koji wasn't too surprised by this; the five of them never liked each other's company that much (save the oddball, Arbormon) and mainly went about their business on their own. In a far off corner, Mercurymon, a knight based Digimon with twin mirror shields, sat looking into his shields. Koji couldn't tell whether he was admiring his own reflection or simply watching his enemies, studying their every movements and weaknesses so he could work them to his own advantage.

Ranamon, a petit female Digimon that stood shorter than most of the other Warriors save Grumblemon who was only a half foot shorter than Koji himself with blue skin wearing a swim suit, blue helmet and gauntlets with red stones embedded in them. She was always hanging around Mercurymon, mostly high up on one of the arms of the pillars that supported the building. She was a rather curious Digimon, always hanging out with the one of the two that ridiculed her the most.

The last of the three, Arbormon, a wooden doll-like robot sat not too far away. Arbormon was one that preferred other's company. The only one, however that would allow him to even accompany them was Grumblemon. The others hardily acknowledged him and fazed him out even though Arbormon knew to keep his distance. Out of all of them, the said Digimon was the only one that Koji would have worked with (if ever he decided to that is).

Mercurymon looked up, hearing the announcement from the prideful Warrior and only smirked. "Ye art late," he said, rather smugly. His accent was a seldom-used one, only being picked up by a few knight Digimon. "If thou art any slower, Lord Cherubimon would have sent me hence to look for you, though I wouldeth have found thee easily, nay? Grumblemon, thou art as loud as a Whamon's stomach as thee prattle around, swingst that hammer of thine."

"Me swing hammer as swing hammer does," Grumblemon answered angrily. With his pride easily bruised from what he could make out of the insult, Grumblemon was more than ready for a fight.

Koji sighed. Mercurymon might have been a pompous windbag, but one thing remained clear: Mercurymon's power was something one wouldn't mess with. From what little he had seen from the quite few battles the knight Digimon fought, Koji and Gazimon both knew this all too well and knew not to pick hand-to-hand combat to settle an argument. Grumblemon, on the other hand, always thought battling it out was a better solution to any situation.

"My, my," Ranamon teased in semi-mockery, gingerly slipping from her perch and falling lightly to the ground. "The pin-head with a hammer picking a fight again. Why don't you quite trying to one-up us? I've heard you lost to a bunch of kiddies, Grumblemon." She walked over, hands on her hips and leaned in so she was literally in his face. "So, did they take your Beast Spirit? I wouldn't be surprised by someone as incompetent as you."

Grumblemon turned beet red from anger. "Grumblemon not lose Spirit! Grumblemon have Spirit of Wind, stupid frog!" he shrieked in anger. Ranamon quickly drew away as Grumblemon swung his hammer in an attempt to send her flying. She easily back flipped several times over until she stood a good few yards away from where she had been.

"Watch it, sugah! I nearly broke a nail," she threatened, checking her nails with a frown etched upon her face.

Koji and Gazimon rolled their eyes. Mercurymon smirked at the "lady" he was about to taunt when Arbormon suddenly interrupted.

"Righ', but don't Cherubimon want to see us?" he suggested, breaking up the fight.

Mercurymon relented, drawing back and accepting the reminder. "Arbormon is correct," he stated.

Koji just sighed. The six of them, they were so different and dysfunctional. Barely any of them even got along. Mercurymon was always snarky, Ranamon was always flaunting her "talents" and didn't care about the others, Grumblemon was both plain stupid and prideful, and Arbormon was too lazy. Koji himself had problems that Gazimon had no troubles pointing out but Koji himself hardly thought of them as a problem with these clowns.

The six Warriors (or maybe five in essence) headed towards the chamber where their master would instruct them. The room where the meeting was being held was a basic stone cavern below the hide out. In the middle a flat stone rose out in the middle like a platform and on either side were large torches that lit the room. Any pride or resistance to authority was left in the hallway as all six got down on one knee to show respect to their master just seconds before a bright blue fire-like light erupted from the stone. Within the blue light, a silhouette of their lord Cherubimon looked down at them and noted each of them.

"Power is everything, as you all know," he began. "Greetings, my loyal followers. Day by day, the world slowly falls into our hands with the gathering of the Fractal Code that you possess."

"And with honor, we humbly givith it to you," Mercurymon stated, raising his shield which began to glow and a stream of data began flowing towards the shadow. Gazimon held back from saying "kiss up".

After receiving the Fractal Code, he transfixed his gaze on Mercurymon. "I've seen the world become more tattered than what the Fractal Code here is," the fallen angel noted. "In fact, all the Fractal Code I have doesn't count for all the damage that has been taking place." An obscured grin could almost been seen on the silhouette's face.

Mercurymon remained with an even voice but everyone knew that he was nervous after being found out. "Really?" he responded.

"Stupid mirror can't count," Grumblemon jeered.

"And Grumblemon forgot about the 'Spirit' he has," jabbed Ranamon. "Who's the airhead now, sugar?"

Grumblemon was about to retort with his rather tanned face turning beet red again when this spiked Cherubimon's interest. "Ah, that's right. Ophanimon called for humans to stop us," he mused.

"And they-" began Mercurymon but Cherubimon interrupted him, saying he already knew that the humans had already found their human Spirits.

"But they don't hold a candle to us!" stated Ranamon. "After all, _we_ are the original Legendary Warriors!"

"Then why have they already found their Spirits?" Cherubimon questioned, semi amused. Ranamon was at a loose for words and so didn't respond. Cherubimon turned towards the Earth Warrior the wicked grin still on his face. "They now have owners. Get the rest of the Spirits. Take this as your chance to make up for Mercurymon's...blunder."

"Thank you, Master Cherubimon," the six saluted. The group rose to their feet, leaving the fire-like substance in the cavern behind until Cherubimon called after two of them.

"Koji, you seem troubled," the booming voice stated, making the Warrior of Darkness and his partner turning back to his master slowly, trying to hide his surprise behind a mask.

"Yes, Master Cherubimon?" he asked, respectfully bowing his head.

"Something troubles you," the fallen angel repeated. "You have yet to let go of your pitiful heart. You wouldn't have these feelings then."

"That's what I keep telling him," Gazimon muttered. That comment went unnoticed by either listener.

Koji paused, unsure if he should even say anything about it but no matter how he tried to hide it, he knew Cherubimon could read him. "Master Cherubimon...the humans, they look like me yet...different. Except one...this same one also has a Spirit like mine. His Spirit is opposite of mine yet he can transform using a device and a Digimon partner...just like me," he explained, confusion lacing his voice.

Cherubimon stayed silent, pondering what he was just told. After a short silence, Cherubimon finally said, "You know the Spirits are the embodiment of the pure power from the Ancient Warriors which represented the ten elements in their purest forms. Light and Darkness, you can never find them in pure forms. During the day, you'll still find shadows and during the night, even the Dark Continent is filled with the stars and the three moons' light.

Because they're everywhere, they hold even more special potential. You're proof of this but there may be something else. But, Koji, you shouldn't have to worry about these things. You're destiny is to cover this land in darkness. No matter what happens, you mustn't waver in your duty. Throw away such thoughts and go. If they trouble you so, destroy all evidence that they exist."

Koji nodded, bowing with his duty heavily on his mind. In the back of it, somewhere a part of him still wished to know more. For now, though, his duty was to get the rest of the Spirits.

X::::::::::X

Mercurymon glanced at his mirrored shield before grinning. The scene he saw on his mirror was one of the children that were their enemies. They were resting and heading towards a forested area.

Meanwhile, Grumblemon was standing with his face contorted, reflecting back on his fearful flight from the Beast Spirit of Fire. It made a lasting scar on his ego. He was, at least in his mind, _the_ strongest of the ten Warriors. His power was everywhere and so no matter what, he'd always be in his element (though Ranamon could easily hurt his pride even more by making him fight in the middle of the ocean). AncientVolcamon was boosted to be the strongest, being able to melt even steal and turn ocean water into steam with the magma inside his body and that very power rested within Grumblemon but despite this, he had ran in fear from the measly Beast Spirit of _Flame_!

Finally making up his mind, Grumblemon raced out of the covered sanctuary to extract revenge. Arbormon was the only one who saw him go and wanted to know what was going through the prideful Warrior's mind.

"What'cha doin', Grumblemon?" he asked, stopping the Digimon as he ran down the side.

"Getting me revenge! Stupid humans make fool out of Grumblemon and Grumblemon want to get them back!" the Digimon replied, eyeing his comrade with malice, ready to fight if Arbormon tried to stop him.

But Arbormon didn't answer. Ranamon and Mercurymon had heard Grumblemon's exclamation even uphill and came down in interest. "Oh, sounds like fun," Ranamon said excitedly with a smile. Mercurymon only smirked.

"Thou knowest where the brats tread hence, Grumblemon?" Mercurymon inquired, though the question was rhetorical. Grumblemon didn't answer and puffed up his cheeks in furry. Mercurymon ignored this and showed his mirror, which reflected a forested area. "Thine enemies art on their way to the Forest Terminal."

X::::::::::X

The group had been walking for a couple of days straight after the incident at the fortune telling festival. The group had walked for a long while until they got to an area that was covered in fog all day. Unsure when the sun rose or set, the group rested often and ate the meat apples that had managed to fit into their pockets sparingly, not willing to venture too far into the fog only to never return.

Over time, Zoe tried to take on as much as she could despite the other's protests. For herself, it made her feel like she still was needed instead of a third wheel that needed protection. She was a Warrior of Wind, not a blonde haired princess.

Strabimon normally stayed out of the humans' way, gathering tried gathering food as Koichi kept the fire burning until the others woke up. During that morning, Strabimon watched as a sleepy-eyed Tommy asked Zoe to cook what was left of the meat apples, which normally fell on JP and Tommy but the former was busy still trying to wake up fully after a terrible night.

Zoe took it up with no trouble but what annoyed Strabimon was the fact that Tommy was capable of helping but didn't whatsoever. Instead of making a stupid scene, Strabimon just turned away and ignored it.

After a breakfast and a quick snuffing out the campfire, the group were on their way again. After a few hours of following the tracks, the fog still didn't let up too much but they were able to make out silhouettes and what appeared to be a wall of greenery. The humans and Digimon walked closer to the sign and Bokomon read it as "The Forest Terminal".

Like the voice had told them over a week ago, they arrived at the Forest Terminal, still not entirely sure of _what _they were supposed to do there.

"Well, now what?" Zoe asked, crossing her arms. "Wait for another call?"

"Well, _something _will happen," Takuya stated. "We came this far after all."

"Please don't tell me that we're just going to be wandering around just to figure out what we're supposed to do," JP sighed. "Doing this all the time isn't going to get us anywhere."

"I'm sure Takuya's right about something happening," Tommy piped up.

"Hey, maybe we can figure it out in that restaurant," JP suggested, more eager about the food than figuring out what they were supposed to do. Their morning breakfast was less than what they were used to, ending up splitting three apples among the eight of them so they were able to walk for a while but their stomachs were still not satisfied.

The group looked back to see the restaurant that JP was talking about. It looked much like an average Japanese noodle shop right in the middle of nowhere. The group began approaching it and a decent sized blue bird Digimon with a flower bush on its tail greeted them. "Welcome weary travelers."

"What do you have to eat?" Tommy asked, checking out the shop.

"It's more of a question of what I don't have to eat. Because you're the first customers I've had in ages, I'll let this meal be free," the Digimon answered, a genuine smile on his face.

The human's mouths watered. A noodle shop in the middle of no where when they were hungry and their meal was free- it sounded to good to be true. Strabimon was the only one who seemed skeptical.

"No strings attached?" he asked, eyeing the Digimon suspiciously but the Digimon kept its cool.

"Oh come off it," Takuya chided, rolling his eyes.

"Deramon are known to be highly prideful but rarely are they snitches or cheaters. I have to agree with Takuya that you worry too much," Bokomon stated, climbing up into a seat next to Koichi and Neemon. Strabimon followed suit reluctantly after.

Deramon made a fantastic showing of making his noodles. After adding the final touch of raw eggs, he presented the bowls to his guests. The humans dug in hungrily after thanking him but stopped upon the first bite.

The taste was different: a mixture of sour, bitter, and another horrifying taste that was unidentifiable. Everyone had mixed reactions. They spat it back into their bowls, turned around and spat it out on the floor, or forced themselves to swallow it, all the while exclaiming about how horrible it tasted. The five humans and the three Digimon regained their composure, heads turned downward respectably while Bokomon informed the confused Deramon about their outburst. "We humbly have to decline you're generous meal," he stated.

"I can't feel my tongue anymore," added Neemon, sticking it out of his mouth while he talked.

The bird Digimon fluffed up his feathers in annoyance. Deramon demanded, "How come? I've been kind enough to give you a _free _meal and you just turn it down as if it's some sort of trash!"

"Well, honestly, I've had better," stated Zoe. "[Even my grandma's horrible attempt at buttered calamari was better.]"

"You just can't cook," stated Strabimon and for once, Takuya agreed with the wolf Digimon. And with that, the eight were kicked out which they willingly agreed to.

"Of all the chances," sighed JP.

"I think he cooked with over due materials," Koichi thought aloud. He had never had anything so nasty in his life before.

"Over due or not, I don't think he can even cook!" Takuya shouted. "My kid brother can make noodles better than he can." Takuya paused for a second, his face growing a regretful look.

"Takuya?" asked Tommy, concern wavering in the young boy's voice.

Strabimon rolled his eyes. "Aren't we supposed to be getting somewhere?" he stated, pointing towards the forest.

"It can-!" Zoe began but was suddenly interrupted by Takuya.

"No, he's right. We need to get going, like the woman on the D-tectors said." With that, Takuya's face regained a semi-normal look of a half determined straight face. "Let's go!"

Zoe was left to let it drop. They kept walking through the fog, which still didn't let up though they guessed it was well into the morning. They passed an- or what appeared to be empty- open-air Trailmon station much like the one they arrived on.

"It's even deserted here too," stated Koichi, getting an uneasy feeling.

"Yeah," agreed Zoe, as if it was obvious. "Does anyone else see a repeating pattern here with this Forest Terminal?"

"Keep your eyes peeled," Takuya advised which was met with Zoe's sarcastic statement about there possibly being ghosts.

"We were told to come here," Tommy reminded them. "Maybe we're supposed to find something- Whoa!"

The eight stopped short, a massive figure rose before them, almost like a skyscraper but what extended from it was like arms- or rather branches.

"There's something weird here," commented Zoe looking upwards towards the looming tree. "I think we have to go up there."

Strabimon could feel it too. There was an odd feeling about this place. In the distance- no, upwards- there was a silent calling that rang throughout his being, as if it was beckoning him towards it. This uneasy feeling made his hairs stand up on end.

"You sure it isn't a trap?" JP suggested. "Do you always get feelings to spring traps?"

"Trap or not, Zoe may have a point. We're supposed to look for something," Koichi reminded them, casting a glance upwards. "Maybe this is it?"

"Maybe," agreed Takuya. "I'm sure we'll make it out alright. I mean, we fought Grumblemon and…stuff." JP noted the hesitation in Takuya's voice. Of course that subject was a bit sore. "So, let's go." Once again, Takuya lead the way inside.

Fortunately, the inside of the tree was fog-free. The giant tree had been hollowed out save for a spiraling staircase along the walls of the trunk. They kept walking upwards until the staircase came back out into the open (which one would assume was a branch of the tree). It too was carved out into a staircase.

Despite their aching feet, the group kept walking upwards until Takuya came to a stop right in the middle of a fork. "Oh great, now which way?" sighed Takuya.

A sudden beeping from Tommy's pocket made the young boy pull out his D-tector to see what was up with it. A screen popped up on it and a single dot went to the right. "That way." Tommy pointed towards the right staircase.

With nothing better to go on, they followed what the map said. They kept walking until branches blocked their path. "Tommy, it's a dead end," Takuya said, stating the obvious.

"Are you sure we're supposed to go this way?" asked Zoe, looking back at the little boy.

The Warrior of Ice nodded, after looking at the map that was pointing upwards. JP pulled out his own D-tector to see if he could add a second opinion. Suddenly the D-tector's screen began to glow, surprising the group.

After the glowing faded, the creaking of bark caught their attention. They all looked towards the source and were surprised to see that the path was now unblocked. JP grinned. "All right."

Without another word, they kept walking again. Along the way, Zoe pulled out her own D-tector and gazed down at it as she walked. _I wonder if I mine can do anything? I'd like to be able to actually be of some sort of use._

With that, her D-tector began to beep and glow, causing a gale of wind to kick up and disperse the fog. They squinted at the sky as sunshine fell over the forest before they all gasped. Farther ahead of them was a majestic castle made out of what looked like lavender, blue, and yellow crystals.

"Oh, wow, this is beautiful!" Tommy cried.

"I hope it's not a trap," Koichi said to himself quietly.

Zoe heard what he said and replied, "I'm sure it's alright. For some odd reason, I'm feeling welcomed or something…"

"You sure that's a good thing?" JP inquired. He had read a one too many manga with characters having an illusion of a welcoming feeling but instead the opposite happened. Then again, some of those times were just the main character's over confidence.

"Maybe that voice that contacted us lives here," Tommy suggested, excitement gushing from his voice. "She did tell us to come here."

JP, being closest to the crystal gates looked at the others. "So…should I knock?"

Takuya shrugged. Suddenly, much like the others, Koichi's D-tector began to give off a bright light and whirling sounds. After both faded, the doors swung open.

"Now I have a really bad feeling," Koichi mumbled nervously.

All of them were unsure if this was a good sign or not. "Well, at least they're polite," Takuya said before adding and unsure, "I guess."

"Or they're just luring us into a trap," JP added.

"It can't be that bad," Zoe insisted. "Princesses and kings live in castles."

"So does Koopa," added Takuya.

Tommy looked eager to go in. His face was bright with childish curiosity and wonder. After all, how many times can an eight year old see a castle made out of crystal? "Well, we won't know until we go in, right?" he asked.

Bokomon easily agreed. "Tommy's right. You were called here for some reason and this seems to be the only place that's interesting for _miles_. Who knows where this could lead us. Besides, didn't Takuya say that you fought worse?"

Koichi was the next to agree. "Takuya did say that…"

Strabimon sighed irritably. "So, are we going or _not_?" he asked.

"Fine," Takuya stated. "We made it all this way, so we should have a look around." No one decided to argue so in a tacit agreement, they walked up to the door and Takuya used the doorknocker. For several odd minutes, nothing happened. Then the last of the D-tectors began to whiz and glow, making the doors open.

Takuya couldn't help but look down at his D-tector in puzzlement. Someone must've really wanted them to come here but he wasn't too sure if they were friend or foe. If they were friendly, why didn't they just come and answer the door? If foe, why act all elaborate in bringing them to the castle instead of just attacking them out in the open?

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to contemplate about it as the end of something was pointed directly at his face and he barely caught the warning that came with it.

"Get back, Cherubimon scum!"

**Chapter 8: End.**

God, it took me forever to write this. Sorry about that folks and sorry if it wasn't up to par but all my time and inspiration has been sucked clean out of me but I have been trying. Right now, I'm trying to plan three stories and do all my homework at once and it's a bit more than I thought it'd be but at least I'm getting stuff done!

About the chapter, if you didn't catch the Mario reference then I'll explain: Bowser is known as Koopa in Japan but with that, I did have Zoe mention Princess Peach. I'm just assuming that she's referred to Peach in the Italian part of the franchise. Also managed to get the story replanned and it's at about 32 chapters in total so it's a little less than what it was originally planned for. Please also note that there may be less or more chapters since my plans aren't always concrete but assume somewhere between 29-33.

**So, I probably won't get anything else written before November because I'm going to participate in the National Novel Writing Month during that month and that's one of the stories I'm planning and the other two are _Legendary Ten _and a new one called _The Catalyst _but the title's pending.**


	10. Chapter 9: Angels Fall Down

**A/N: Thanks Hikari no Destany, Impstar, mudkipmon, and Immortal Fallen Radiance for reviewing. :) I officially hate writing Grumblemon's dialogue more than Mercurymon's. _ It's actually kinda fun writing for Mercurymon. Also, I apologize about the kind-of-cliff hanger ending to the last chapter. That was just how it ended up because it would have turned out longer if I kept writing.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Digimon. Not now either. Nor now. Or now. You get the point, right?**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 9: Angels Fall Down

"Get back Cherubimon scum," warned a voice. "One step closer and I'll be more than glad to freeze you where you stand. I won't let you harm Master Seraphimon."

Takuya blinked, not daring to look away from the tip of the snowflake-shaped wand. He took a few steps back so he could get a better look. The owner of the threat and the staff was a humanoid Digimon dressed in a faded blue jumper with zippers on the legs and arms, a wizard hat, cape, and leather gloves and boots. He kept his staff held in front of him and an icy glare focused in their general direction.

"Cherubimon?" inquired Tommy. "We're fighting against him."

"Yeah," agreed Zoe, crossing her arms and looking insulted. "Why would Grumblemon attack us if we were their allies?"

"Grumblemon?" the wizard asked, doubt in his voice and his staff still at the ready. "The Warrior of Earth always tended to be hot-tempered so that isn't an excuse."

"Has he always been after his comrades' Spirits?" asked Koichi carefully.

JP decided to add onto it. "We were called here by some woman," he informed, holding out his D-tector. "We came here but it was nothing except loads of trees and some Deramon that can't cook noodles to save himself. This seems to be the only other place to go."

"Some woman? Ophanimon?" he questioned, taking a glance at the Warrior of Thunder. "So, you're not Cherubimon's goons."

"Of course not," Strabimon answered, frowning angrily. "If I was in cahoots with that stupid Grumblemon, we wouldn't be here making small talk. That door would have been knocked down and _whatever _is in there would have been ours."

The wizard didn't answer, looking as if he was trying to decide to allow them to enter or not.

Koichi took a step forwards, only to flinch when the wand was directed at him. "Look," he began after he mustered up his voice again, "you can see we're allies, right? We aren't fighting you, so that should mean we're not here to fight."

"Yeah," Takuya quickly agreed. "Maybe you could put that wand down."

The sorcerer Digimon sighed, shaking his head as he relaxed and lowered his staff. "This is what happens when you play guard for a long time. I'm sorry about this. I completely forgot my hospitality," he apologized. "Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Sorcermon, guardian of the Crystal Castle." After giving them a small bow, he turned with a flap of his cape and beckoned them to follow. "Please, come with me. I have something to show you." And with that, he disappeared into the castle.

The group looked between each other, unsure of whether to follow or not. Zoe shrugged; going off her driving, questionable instinct and curiosity, she walked in first. The others followed her soon after.

If the castle outside was grand, inside it was beautiful. Obscured light filtered through the crystals and windows, casting rainbows on the marble floor.

"Mama mia," she whispered. "This place is just…wow. It makes the castles back in Europe look like simple homes."

Tommy couldn't hold in his excitement, jumping back and forth from looking out the windows to playing with his shadow in the rainbows. JP reached for him and place a firm hand on his shoulder so Strabimon didn't decide to shout at the little boy—and Strabimon looked more than ready to, having been standing behind Tommy. The Warrior of Ice stopped and tried to keep himself occupied but the silence was boring him a bit. That, coupled with his burning curiosity, he asked, "What are you going to show us?"

"Someone you need to meet," Sorcermon simply answered. "You'll see in due time."

"Sounds like he's full of himself," Strabimon muttered.

"And look who's talking," Takuya quietly retorted.

"Oh, please don't start this now," Zoe pleaded, exasperated. Of course they had decided to return to their ordinary bickering after their arguing-free day.

Sorcermon shook his head. "You should be more worried about if it's a trap," he said, looking back at the taller Digimon, "especially in this day and age. But I assure you this is no trap, it's a prophecy."

"More with destiny?" JP sighed. "That voice said something about a 'game of destiny.'"

"Destiny is a fickle thing, mind you. I wouldn't say destiny controls a person but it can shape how one can be if they defy it or try to make it come true."

"My grandma told me everyone has a destiny," Koichi added. "Some are full of great things, though we don't know what they are."

"Things happen for a reason, one way or another," Takuya added, looking at JP. "I mean, we were all chosen and met up here with _no_ extra people who didn't get D-tectors. We all got Spirits, even that Koji kid. None of this can be random."

"We may have been chosen for this but we can easily say no if our character allowed it," JP pointed out. "I came close to leaving."

"But you didn't," Bokomon interrupted. "And here we are, wandering the Crystal Castle. Hard to believe that Lady Ophanimon called us here."

"Lady Ophanimon?" asked Zoe.

"I'll explain soon enough," Sorcermon cut in. "We're here." Sure enough, they were. Sorcermon pushed open a set of French doors and walked in. The others followed, wide eyed. The room they entered was large and the ceiling rose high above them. Large windows allowed sunlight to fall upon a large crystal hanging ten feet above their heads. Inside of it, they could see a figure was encased in it like how flies were trapped in amber stones.

They approached it, keeping their eyes on the crystal. Zoe and Strabimon involuntarily shivered.

"Behold: Seraphimon, one of the three Celestial Angels and our salvation."

"Uh, are we supposed to know who it is?" Zoe asked, trying to keep the crushing feeling in check.

"Seraphimon is one of the three chosen to rule the Digital World. You know about Cherubimon, of course. Ophanimon was the third one but…she disappeared during the raid by Cherubimon's forces less than a year ago, most likely taken by him," the sorcerer explained gravely.

"Okay…but what exactly are we supposed to do?" asked Takuya matter-of-factly. "He doesn't seem to be that talkative."

"Awaken him?" Zoe suggested suddenly. The group looked at her.

"Any idea how to do that?" asked Koichi.

Zoe shrugged. "It's…it's just some weird feeling I have…"

"There is," Sorcermon stated. "The prophecy said that the—"

A new voice interrupted him. "Let your light shine as one," a female voice echoed gently. The humans recognized it as the voice that told them to head towards the Forest Terminal.

Sorcermon's eyes widened. "Lady Ophanimon…she _has _been contacting you. It's all starting to make sense now. Those wayward warriors that the prophecy was talking about were guided by a distant light…" he breathed, "they were you and Lady Ophanimon…"

"How are we supposed to get our 'light' to become one?" Tommy asked. "Are we supposed to light matches and burn them together?"

"Maybe it has something to do with our D-tectors. Wouldn't be surprised since it did all of the weird stuff on our way here," JP suggested, checking out his own. Suddenly, all the devices began ringing and glowing. The others pulled them out and a beam of light shot out from the scanner end of it.

Takuya suddenly got an idea. "Hey, guys, focus them on Seraphimon's crystal."

The five beams wandered over to the crystal-encased figure, focusing on a single point near the bottom side. The crystal began to glow and dissolve, revealing the sleeping figure of a blue and silver armored Digimon with five sets of golden wings. He floated down towards them slowly.

"The prophecy…" Sorcermon gasped.

The angel landed between the humans and the sorcerer. "Lord Seraphimon, welcome back," Sorcermon greeted eagerly, quickly bowing onto one knee.

The great angel looked over at his servant. "Sorcermon, it's good to be back," he answered. "Please rise."

Bokomon made a gasping noise, dancing in place. "I-I can't believe I'm actually meeting _the_ Seraphimon! The ruler of justice and order in the Digital World…I-I-I…" The small Digimon looked so excited that he couldn't speak in coherent sentences.

Seraphimon looked over at Bokomon, about to ask him for silence, but the look made the gnome Digimon faint then and there. "Uh…okay then," the angel Digimon said nervously. He looked over at his servant. "Tell me, Sorcermon. I've missed a lot and everything is a blurred. Can you tell me what I missed?"

"My lord, when Cherubimon attack and struck you down, Ophanimon managed to get you to safety, leaving you here until you were healed after the crisis was over."

"Ophanimon! That's right. Is she here and safe…?" he asked, his voice full of worry.

Sorcermon looked down sorrowfully before explaining that no one knew where she was. Seraphimon nodded a little. "I see," he said dejectedly.

"But," the wizard Digimon pointed his staff at the humans, his voice full of hope as if he had just remembered about the humans. "These humans have been in contact with her. Lady Ophanimon has been guiding them here."

Seraphimon looked at them. "These humans?" he asked, almost disapprovingly. "They're children, though. What good can children do in times like these?"

"Hey, just to have you know, _we've _been kicking butts since we got here," JP retorted, insulted.

"They also have those what-its," Neemon added. "Erm, what were they called?"

Bokomon—who was just recovering from his fainting spell—stood up and whapped the yellow rabbit over the head with his fist. "Excuse my moronic friend. These humans are the Legendary Warriors chosen by the Spirits that haven't been captured by Cherubimon's goons," Bokomon elaborated.

"Really? That's quite a job for those of your…stature," Seraphimon said, impressed. Takuya wasn't too sure if the statement was completely a complement or an insult.

"Look," Takuya began in an irritated voice, "we've been running up and down the Digital World. We've had problems and had the snot kicked out of us, let alone fighting someone we don't even know. I've got no problem with saving people but we don't know _what _the heck's going on!"

"Yeah," agreed Zoe, putting her hands on her hips. "We deserve an explanation for the crap we've been through."

"If it'd be all right with you," Koichi added nervously.

For several minutes, Seraphimon looked at them, astounded. Sorcermon looked at them carefully and between his master and them quickly. The silence felt almost unbearable until Tommy dared to speak.

"Please?" he squeaked.

Seraphimon nodded. "Very well. You do deserve an explanation. Cherubimon, Ophanimon, and I ruled the Digital World with your Spirits under our watch. For a while, Cherubimon disappeared but when he came back, he came seeking the power of a single rule instead of it being divided between the three of us and so attacked the two of us, striking me down. As Sorcermon mentioned that Ophanimon sealed me away so you humans could revive me."

Sorcermon continued from where his master left off. "And in time as well," he stated, lifting his wand parallel to the ground. A holograph of a planet with holes in it like Swiss cheese appeared out of the snowflake end. "As you can see, the Digital World is in a crisis as more and more parts of it are being taken by Cherubimon."

Seraphimon looked at it grimly. "I never imagined it could have gotten so bad this quickly. We need to find Ophanimon at once."

"We'll help!" Tommy piped up.

The angel looked at them. "No," he said firmly. "You're job has been fulfilled. You may hold the Spirits but you're only children and war is no place for children. It would be best for you to get home."

Finally, it was Strabimon who spoke against it. "Didn't you hear what these kids said?" he demanded. "We've been fighting all the way to this moment and you're telling us to tuck tail and bow out quietly? I have been traveling with these kids and they may not seem like the greatest warriors but they're all too thick headed to even think about backing down."

"Well, not in so many words," Koichi added, "but Strabimon is right."

Seraphimon looked towards the dark haired human and the wolf Digimon, eyeing them curiously. "How do you have the symbol of Light yet you speak as if you're not a human yourself?" he asked.

"Because I'm _not _human," Strabimon replied sharply. "I'm half of the Legendary Warrior of Light. He's the holder of the Spirit." Strabimon indicated to Koichi. The boy couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride in the wolf Digimon's statement

"Really?" Seraphimon asked, his interest peaking. "How is it that the rest of you don't have partners like this boy?"

The rest of the humans looked between each other. They had been wondering that same thing for a long time but never really found an answer…or even an understandable hypothesis. "We don't know," JP replied. "It's just how it ended up."

Seraphimon studied the two for a minute. "There's something more," he spoke. "The boy…you are different from the other. The Spirits I hold are connected to me and I, holding the Spirits of Light and Wind, can tell something's off. In fact, you feel almost the opposite of the element you represent…"

"What?" Koichi asked, tilting his head to the side in bewilderment. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Well, that explains that weird feeling I keep having," Zoe interrupted. "If you're connected to the Spirits, then I must be connected to you with the weird telepathy thing."

"Most likely," Seraphimon answered, nodding towards the blonde.

"Wait, what did you mean by what you said?" Koichi spoke up, trying to get an understanding about his statement. His voice and face reflected his confusion and concern. "What's wrong with me?"

Seraphimon was about to answer but a sudden crash from behind the humans interrupted him. They quickly looked behind them to see Grumblemon standing in front of three other humanoid Digimon. Crumbs of the crystal doors were scattered before him. "There humans are!" he shouted, pointing towards them. "Grumblemon here to repay for humiliation! Grumblemon brought reinforcements this time."

The only female Digimon of the group tilted her head to the side as she eyed them and smirked. "Name's Ranamon. I'm sure you're all charmed," she stated with a heavy accent. She looked as if she was adapted for water having blue skin and light blue armor and a one-piece swimsuit.

"You're in a world of hurt now," a wooden robot Digimon said. "This'll be cake for us, righ' Mercurymon?"

"Of course, Arbormon. If these whelps we see yonder art the problem that Grumblemon hath been having, then this shalt be easy. They looketh pathetic."

"Tougher than look," Grumblemon stated rather hurtfully. "They got Beast Spirit."

"Beast Spirit or no, it shalt not matter," Mercurymon smirked at the humans. "We shalt take their Spirits and Seraphimon's Fractal Code in Cherubimon's name."

"My, my, there are so many to choose from," Ranamon giggled. "I just don't know where to start?"

"Enough of your empty taunts," Seraphimon threatened, which seemed out of character for an angel. "Tell me where Ophanimon is! NOW!"

"Like me care!" Grumblemon grunted, readying his hammer for an attack. "Me just want Spirits now!"

"Then bring it!" was the answer that Takuya gave as he stepped forwards, D-tector gripped in his hand. The others with Spirits followed and the four Spirit Evolved immediately.

Zoe backed up a few feet after the boys were done forming into their respective Hybrid forms. "If only I had my Spirit then I can show that dofus a thing or two," she muttered.

Agunimon was the first one to attack, sending a flaming punch of fire at the four opposing enemies, who easily dodged it. The other three ran into battle. Gargoylemon attacked Mercurymon and Ranamon using a small bunch of statues that he summoned but Ranamon easily flipped out of the way and Mercurymon disappeared all together. Beetlemon attempted to strike Arbormon with an electrified knuckle hammer and Kumamon launched a small batch of snowballs at Grumblemon but the two enemies easily jumped out of the way.

Ranamon smirked. "What a lesson in combat," she taunted, as if bored. "You guys might as well be fighting a bunch of shadows. Sugah, let me show you how a Warrior fights." Ranamon held her hands above her head and a dark cloud condensed over her head. "Drainin' Rain!"

The cloud floated over to its creature's enemies and all the water in the cloud fell down on the few that got trapped under it. Ranamon lazily traced her finger across the battlefield and Kumamon, Beetlemon, and Gargoylemon found themselves doing more running than fighting in order to not get stuck under the stream of water.

Arbormon and Grumblemon used the chance to attack with either a roundhouse kick or a swung hammer, sending the four into the crystal wall with enough force to leave an indent in it.

Zoe gasped. _If only…_she thought. _W-would I have really made a difference if I even had my Spirit?_ She felt even more useless but she knew that she couldn't do anything but watch as the four enemy Warriors went in for the Spirits.

"I won't let you get them!" exclaimed Sorcermon, suddenly stepping forwards along with his master. The two launched attacks—ice shards for Sorcermon and small light balls for Seraphimon respectively. The light balls had missed their mark, only by an inch but it was enough to send Ranamon and Arbormon sprawling forwards. The ice shards easily stuck into Grumblemon's back. Mercurymon, however, was able to retaliate, absorbing the ice shards into one mirror and sending them out the other but instead turned black and flew faster than when they were first launched.

Sorcermon wasn't fast enough to dodge the reflected attack and ended up taking the brunt of it as it tore his clothes and pale skin as well as destroying his staff. He slumped to the ground and Seraphimon was at his side immediately, helping his comrade to his feet. The angel was then forced to become airborne in order to dodge a punch from Mercurymon.

After landing on the ground and putting the sorcerer Digimon down, he turned and faced the enemies. The two fallen regrouped with Mercurymon and Grumblemon, ready to launch a rare group attack. He formed seven glowing orbs in his hands yet again and fired them. The seven divided up and attacked all four, breaking through the attempted shields made by Ranamon, Grumblemon, and Arbormon. The attack hit three of their intended four targets. The knight Digimon absorbed it and redirected it away from him towards the young blonde.

Zoe saw it coming and ducked as quickly as she could. The attack flew right over her head and smashed into the crystal wall behind her, creating a gaping hole in the wall to the outdoors.

Seraphimon glared at Mercurymon. "You _dare _hurt a defenseless human?" he demanded.

"I dareth," Mercurymon replied, savagely smirking.

Agunimon, Beetlemon, Gargoylemon, and Kumamon forced themselves up and went to join the blue armor angel. "Let us help!" Agunimon demanded.

"No, you _all_ go back to your homes and world. This is not a place for children to be!" Seraphimon answered forcefully. "I cannot fight them and keep you safe all at once."

"We won't!" Kumamon answered, voicing all of the humans' stubborn decision.

"Besides, we don't know how," Beetlemon added.

"Find a way then," Seraphimon replied. "Children should not be involved with matters of a world that is not theirs, as noble as it may seem. Leave everything to me."

"How are you certain that we can't help?" Gargoylemon asked. "You just awakened and they're our enemies too."

"Not a chance," Agunimon stated, turning his eyes away from the angel Digimon. "Koichi's right, they're our enemies too and they attacked us. You need us as much as we need you." As if to ground his point in, he and Beetlemon raced forwards, launching attacks while Gargoylemon sent in an angel statue to attack with an orange beam to allow his comrades to get a hit in.

Mercurymon easily passed them as his three comrades engaged the Flame and Thunder Warriors. Gargoylemon and Kumamon saw him coming and quickly brought together their freezing wind attacks and aimed them towards the oncoming Warrior of Steel. At the same time, Seraphimon was readying his own attack.

Mercurymon easily disappeared in order to escape the effects of the freezing wind. A few seconds later, he appeared right in front of Seraphimon just as the said angel fired off the shinning orbs, absorbing them and firing them back at point-blank range. The force of the attack and the power knocked Seraphimon off his feet and the amplified power was enough to damage him so much as to reveal his Fractal Code.

The scream of agony rippled through the air, catching the attention of all the Warriors in the vicinity. Mercurymon placed a hand on the code and it streamed into a ball in his hands. "To the victor goes the spoils," he smirked as he watched the black mass disintegrated into a small light blue egg.

Everyone had a look of astonishment on their faces. The rest of Cherubimon's Warriors were more in shock because of how easily Mercurymon had gotten the Fractal Code. Zoe and Gargoylemon suddenly felt a pang in their hearts, as if something had just died. Of course, it had to be related to Seraphimon.

"Ironic, nay?" Mercurymon asked, breaking the silence. "He darest stand in Cherubimon's way but his Fractal Code wouldth be used for his enemies."

"No," Sorcermon breathed, casting his eyes towards the floor. "Our world's last hope…Lord Seraphimon's gone…"

"It can't be over that quickly!" a feminine voice shouted. Before anyone had a chance to even know who it was, Zoe had grabbed the egg in her arms and raced towards them. "It can't be over just yet! If we have his egg, maybe he'll be born from it!"

As absurd as it sounded to the humans, it made perfect sense to the Digimon. Sorcermon snapped his head up, hope filling his eyes again. "That's right," he exclaimed.

Bokomon, standing next to him nodded. "Digimon can come back. I don't think I remember telling them this, but it is true."

"That's only if the egg isn't destroyed, sugar," Ranamon stated, stepping forwards. She manipulated the water on the floor to fly towards the human girl but Kumamon easily froze the small wave before it hit Zoe. Beetlemon and Agunimon went in to cover the retreating blonde and Gargoylemon picked her up and fell back in line with Kumamon. In minutes, they found themselves surrounded against the wall again.

"And the last problem shalt be gone," Mercurymon said, a wicked grin on his face.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Sorcermon answered with a determined voice. The next thing the human Warriors knew, a blinding light behind them blinded their opponents. "Come on!" shouted Sorcermon to the humans. They followed the voice, adjusting their eyes to the brighter light before it turned dark. Somehow, the explosion of glass had turned them into their human selves but it didn't matter. Right now, what mattered was getting away from the four evil Warriors and making sure that the egg was safe.

As they raced down the small brick hallway, they could hear the echoing boom as the wall began to collapse and pounding footsteps followed, accompanied by a shouted taunt from Grumblemon. Finally, they came to a stop in front of a glass door.

"In here. Take this Trailmon as far as it'll go." Sorcermon pressed a button and the door lifted, revealing the back of a yellow Trailmon in a glass tunnel. The group rushed in and boarded the Trailmon; Zoe, Tommy, JP, Bokomon, Neemon, and Strabimon got into the back while Koichi and Takuya stepped on the side rails and turned back to check the progress of their pursuers. They were surprised to see Sorcermon standing in the doorway, unmoving. The approaching figures of Grumblemon, Ranamon, and Arbormon could be picked out of the shadows now but he still had time to board the Trailmon.

"Sorcermon, come on!" shouted Zoe. "If you don't, they'll kill you!"

"That doesn't matter right now," the sorcerer answered, giving them a hard stare.

"What do you mean?" Takuya demanded. Was he really suicidal?

"The DigiEgg is all that matters right now. Find a way to get Seraphimon back," he stated, closing his eyes. "The Digital World is in your hands now. You're our last hope." Then, the door began to close. The last thing they saw of him was him turning around, ready to fight to his last breath. Just then, the Trailmon started to depart.

"Sorcermon!" Tommy shouted after him, ready to jump out of the Trailmon in order to help him but JP and Strabimon that kept him from doing so "Wait, we won't leave you!" Tears were forming in his eyes. A few words from Strabimon and JP made the boy give up his endeavors. Instead, he slumped down and allowed the tears to run down his cheeks. He knew full well of what would happen.

The five humans were all shaken. Zoe clutched the egg close. Was this what Seraphimon meant by that they were in the way and unneeded? Were they always need saving? Could they not save a single Digimon that helped them?

JP looked towards the now gone door where Sorcermon was now either still fighting or dead. His head soon bowed, wishing that Sorcermon at least hurt one of them before he fell.

Takuya quietly thanked him, keeping his eyes forwards in hopes that he wouldn't break into rueful tears. _Don't worry,_ Takuya thought, remembering the spellcaster's last words. _We won't fail. This may not be the destiny I thought I had but this is our job now. There's no backing out._

Koichi thought about what Seraphimon's words in hopes to keep the sudden reminder of the death of Sorcermon and lingering feelings of his late grandmother's death. _"You feel almost the opposite of the element you represent…"_ What exactly did that mean? The boy kept his hand on the baseball cap so he wouldn't lose it in the wind as he thought about it. Did this mean he wasn't supposed to be there? If Mercurymon hadn't killed Seraphimon, what would the angel have said to justify the accusation? Koichi felt a small bit of hatred in the pit of his stomach, hatred directed at himself for not being more demanding with his question and also at Seraphimon for making the statement.

The boy shook his head. No, now wasn't the time. He quickly locked it away as the Trailmon kept going, water droplets occasionally hitting his legs. What was more important was saving the Digital World from Cherubimon-and his brother.

Chapter 9: End.

**Who thought Bokomon was annoying? God, I don't care if it seems out of character for him to act that way! He was just so much fun to write, I just bent over laughing when he fainted from Seraphimon's look. It bothered me that Bokomon didn't give any reaction to one of his **_**surviving leaders**_**! And so, viola! Bokomon turned fangirl…er, fanboy. XD Looking over the episode, I caught some SeraphiOphani hint. Well, I think the CherubiOphaniSeraphi triangle is kind of cute, if you remember the comment Zoe made in the episode where they go to save Ophanimon. **

**As for Gargoylemon's attack Black Statue, there are two shown effects. One is the Angemon statue that can attack (as given by Wikimon) and the other is just summoning and throwing statues at the opponent (as shown by Xros Wars). I'm going to use both attacks overall but the latter will take up the English name of Black Statue's name, Statue Bomber.**

**Um...I'm not too sure what to add. ^^; Well, I have a new homepage if anyone's interested. XD That's about it. Hope you enjoyed.**


	11. Chapter 10: A Hero's Welldone

**A/N: Thanks, Impstar, Immortal Fallen Radiance, Hikari no Destany, and Mudkipmon for reviewing. Crap, I'm back on track for this story. Merry Christmas, btw.**

**Disclaimer: Your voices in your head agree with mine and me that I don't own Digimon. If you however disagree with your voices, I think you should go and see a psychiatrist.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 10: A Hero's Well Done

The ride on the yellow Trailmon was rough, bumpy, and uncomfortable. Koichi and Takuya gripped the sides of the train so they wouldn't fall off. The Trailmon was going so fast that on turns, the spraying water that was kicked up drenched Takuya and Koichi from the knees down. After a fork, the two boys nearly panicked once they saw the wide gap between two ends of the tracks.

"That _really_ doesn't look good!" Takuya shouted.

"Ah, don't worry," the Trailmon said, carefree as he shot over the abyss below him. "What's not a little adventure?"

Takuya wanted to shout something about what kind of adventure this was but his scream melded with the blowing air and the others' as they flew through the air.

Seconds later, the wheels hit the track safely. The Trailmon chuckled in satisfaction and triumph while Takuya wanted to whap it over the head. "Everyone okay?" Takuya and Koichi shouted, making sure that the others' hadn't fallen out.

After they heard that no one had fallen out, they were a little more at ease and were more than glad to get off. Even with wet shoes and socks, they continued on their way in hopes of getting even more distance between them and Cherubimon's Warriors so they didn't get the egg or anymore of their Spirits.

Finally, they came to a rest some way down the tunnel after Tommy dropped down from exhaustion. "Can we rest?" he asked, almost in a complaining voice.

Strabimon was about to argue but it was Takuya who quickly agreed when he sank onto his butt and inhaled deeply. "Five minutes," he answered.

The others either stayed standing or sat down. Zoe held onto the egg still and gazed down at it. Bokomon walked over to her. "How about you give it to me," he advised but it sounded more like a command. "I know what a DigiEgg needs and it's best if I hold onto it and tend to them until we get his Fractal Code back."

Zoe allowed him to take it without question. Bokomon slipped it into his waistband and began to pat it gently. Bokomon looked up at Zoe, as if he had heard her say something. "I'm sorry," Bokomon apologized, "I didn't catch what you said. Do you think you can repeat it?"

"If we can get the Fractal Code back," she repeated in a low voice. She had no confidence in it.

"What does that mean?" Takuya asked. "Of course we will."

Zoe looked at them for a minute. "After all we did, Seraphimon…he easily fell to Mercurymon. A ruler falling to a Warrior like us, shouldn't that tell you something? He was the salvation—the _messiah—_ of this world and he was easily defeated. We got our butts kicked like it was nothing too," she pointed out. "What can we do against them? Maybe that's what Seraphimon meant."

"You really aren't making sense," Strabimon mumbled.

"Zoe, you're missing one thing: we're going to get the Fractal Code back, that's all," Koichi said.

"Honestly, can we?" Zoe replied, still unconvinced. "I normally don't give up like this but this is even more real than I thought it could be. We aren't invincible. Seraphimon, Sorcermon…they died because of us. This isn't a game and it maybe one we can't get out alive."

Tommy grew nervous at the sound of the word death. He looked up at Takuya, "Can we really die?" he asked in a quavering voice.

Takuya shot Zoe a look before turning towards Tommy. "We won't," he said. "We're too strong for that. I won't let anyone die. I'm here to make sure of that."

JP shook his head. "Takuya—," he began but the goggle-head cut in.

"Zoe, is this because you don't have your Spirit at the moment?" he inquired. "Remember, we still have to get our Beast Spirits. I'm sure if we find them, we'll stand a good chance. We're the last hope, Zoe! We can't just give up now, we've barely even tried."

Zoe blinked. "That's right," she answered. "We barely started. I'm sorry for scaring everyone like that. I guess it's just from not having a Spirit at the moment. I just hate being so useless."

"You aren't," Neemon encouraged, innocently. "You grabbed Seraphimon's egg. That should count for something!"

"For once my comrade says something intelligent," Bokomon sighed.

"Well, that settles that," Takuya stated, standing up. "Breaks over. Let's get moving."

And so they did.

X::::::::::X

They finally came to a cavern. Takuya, Tommy, and Strabimon went looking around for a way out. The cavern was large. The floor sloped downwards from the entrance and a lake rested in the middle of the floor.

"At this rate, Grumblemon's going to find us," Koichi mumbled to himself as he too began looking for an exit.

JP stood his ground next to Zoe. "Let him come; I don't care," he stated determinedly. The boy could feel two sets of eyes stare at him questionably. He normally didn't even talk about allowing an opponent come to him.

"Oh, are you being stubborn and trying to impress me?" Zoe teased, despite the dire situation that it could lead to if Cherubimon's Warriors found them.

JP looked at her seriously. This wasn't a joke to him, couldn't she see that? "I'm not doing it to impress anyone," he replied, his tone matching the look on his face. "Grumblemon has your Spirit and I want to get it back, it's that simple." He had never felt so stubborn or determined in his life. He was never one who sought a fight but the events that he had been through were something he never saw himself do. Maybe this was what his father, who was a police officer, always felt when he went to work everyday.

Zoe paused for a second. "R-really?" she inquired.

JP nodded. "They're going to chase us down, no matter how far we run or what we do. They want all our Spirits and we want yours back," he added. After all, it was true. Grumblemon was persistent enough to find them twice after they first met him. Now, they had five Warriors they had to deal with, all wanting their Spirits.

"Well, if you want to stay here alone," she stated, folding her arms. She didn't need to finish her sentence; the Warrior of Thunder already got it.

"Ah, come on Zoe," he whined. "Way to break the mood…"

Zoe shook her head before waving for him to follow to help the others look for the exit. For several minutes, they had no luck finding one. What they couldn't understand is how the cavern was lighted if there was no way for the sun to reach them. They kept searching in hopes of finding a way out but their search was cut short by a sudden wail.

The noise echoed loudly. The humans cupped their hands over their ears in hopes of softening the noise a little. After the wail ended seconds later, Zoe looked across to Takuya and Strabimon.

"What the heck was that?" she shouted.

"That wasn't the kid?" Strabimon yelled back, which promptly earned him a glare from a few of the children.

"Of course not," JP yelled. "It sounded like—." But that was as far as he got. A sudden gush of water slammed into him and Tommy, who happened to be close to each other. They were forced into the wall and collapsed seconds later, soaked and gasping for air.

"Tommy! JP!" shouted Zoe and Bokomon. The two ran over to them to see if they were okay. The two nodded but Tommy looked as if he was hit harder than the older boy.

Suddenly, the water in the little lake began to rise in a column of water. The group all got ready for a fight, D-tectors out and at the ready. Had they already been caught up to?

The water fell in a loud splash along the small lake's shore, revealing a blue whale creature. The creature gave out a shriek and a wail, similar to the one they had heard a minute before.

"Wh-what is a whale doing in here?" shouted Zoe.

"What's a Whamon doing here, indeed," Bokomon said a bit more calmly. "Whamon tend to be gentler creatures that live in the ocean."

After several minutes of running from several streams of water shot from panic and some talking to, the Whamon calmed down and they were able to talk to him. After all the blubbering they heard from him, they tacitly decided that he was not with Cherubimon's Warriors and also wasn't much of a threat. His apology added to that evidence. "Sorry about that," apologized Whamon. "I'm not used to such enclosed spaces. I just want to get home."

"Well, how did you get stuck in here?" asked Tommy, curiously. "Aren't whales supposed to be in the ocean?"

The Whamon raised his head upwards. "I was," he answered, longingly. "I was swimming in the ocean like any other day, happily going about my life. I was just enjoying a meal of oddly glowing seaweed when suddenly, the ocean current shifted and I ended up here with you guys."

"How long do you think you've been down here?" asked Koichi concerned.

"I don't know," Whamon sobbed. "Hours…days…Maybe years!" He began to wail, shedding tears that the humans questioned where he was getting so much water from.

JP gritted his teeth in annoyance. He honestly didn't like crybabies who couldn't help themselves (though Tommy was in better graces. After all, he was able to hold his own _several _times). "You think your bawling will get you anywhere?" he asked, his annoyance edging his voice. "Stuff like that always annoyed me."

But the crying Whamon took no notice of the boy's annoyance. "A-And it's all my fault that you guys got hurt! I'm so sorry!" he continued.

"Hey, all right, you're forgiven!" JP shouted, clutching his side as it began to ach.

"Can't someone shut him up?" Strabimon complained, holding the side of his head as if he was getting a headache. How much more wailing could this whale do?

"Hey, maybe we can help each other out?" suggested Zoe. "We're all stuck in here, after all."

That managed to get the whale to stop and he happily agreed. As JP's ache subsided, he wondered what kind of help a whale could even do? Not to mention all he could do was cry. What kind of help was that? Then he mentally smacked himself.

For a minute, Whamon was rejoicing like a little kid, making even Koichi embarrassed to be in the same room but that was soon interrupted by a shout from the entrance. "So, there ya are." They looked over to see Arbormon, waiting for them.

_Only one?_ JP wondered, _weren't there four of the chasing us?_

"Only one?" Takuya asked. "This some kind of joke or something?" He looked towards Koichi and Strabimon. "You guys ready?" The two nodded but the dark haired boy too looked uneasy about it, as JP noted. The two Spirit Evolved into Agunimon and Gargoylemon to combat Arbormon. The fight seemed all too easy. The two already had Arbormon running. Something really didn't seem right…

And right it wasn't.

Whamon suddenly gave out a pained cry. The three remaining humans and two Digimon found themselves gaping as they watched the water drain out of the lake, leaving Whamon shivering on his side out of fear. JP didn't need to see the culprit to know it was Grumblemon. Sure enough, the dwarf Digimon pulled himself out of the ground, his hammer in hand.

"Me found you!" he exclaimed, smirking proudly. "Now Grumblemon will take you Spirits!"

"I'm not letting that happen, rock head!" JP exclaimed, stepping in front of Tommy and Zoe. This was honestly strange for him once again. Actually standing up for someone…he hadn't done it for a long while. When he first had it done to him, he had the crap kicked out of him and had no thanks from the kid he defended. This time, however, he didn't really care about it, just as long as he could make sure to get the satisfaction that Zoe and Tommy (namely the blonde) wasn't hurt.

However, JP had forgotten about his aching side. He attempted to Spirit Evolve but his side stopped him, making him collapse. He could register the shouts from the four as they crowded around him. "I'm okay," he answered, trying to wave them off. Minutes later, he also registered that he was flying and was lying on his back, pain coursing through his entire body. _Grumblemon must've used his hammer, _JP reasoned, forcing himself into a sitting position. His vision soon became less blurry.

He saw Kumamon one-handedly fighting Grumblemon himself, making sure that Zoe and the others were safe. That left a small blow to his pride. JP forced himself to stand, pulling out his D-tector and Spirit Evolving.

The transformation helped ease his pain enough so he could help the small bear Digimon. He electrified his hands and went in for a surprise attack and that was exactly what Grumblemon got. The blow connected, driving the Digimon onto his knees. Kumamon took the chance to attack him using his Snow Tundra attack. Grumblemon however had gotten away by digging his way into the earth.

He popped back up only a few feet away, producing a small vile. He smashed it into the ground and the rocks formatted themselves into a humanoid structure. Seconds later, life came into it, becoming a Golemon, much like the one they had fought against the last time the group fought Grumblemon on his own. Grumblemon smirked, Slide Evolving into Gigasmon. The two rushed forwards and went about, fighting the Warriors of Ice and Thunder.

Beetlemon knew that they wouldn't be able to do anything against the two. It had taken a Beast Spirit to take care of Golemon and they had yet to truly defeat Gigasmon. Despite the notion, he kept fighting Gigasmon in hopes that maybe this time, it'd be different.

However, a strong blow to the stomach by a Quagmire Twister proved him wrong. The Warrior of Thunder was sent sprawled onto the ground with Kumamon soon following after. The two, beaten badly, were forced to de-evolve. In the distance, they could hear a scream from Takuya and Koichi and a loud thump.

Gigasmon looked away from his prey, his dark grin growing wider. "Job too easy." He quickly looked back at the two humans. "Now, I get Spirits for humiliation!" He raised his thick arms into the air, ready to crush the two boys.

Next to JP, he could hear the quiet sobs of Tommy. He too felt water running down his face. Was it really the end? After all this…? He closed his eyes, hoping it was all a dream. This adventure…all a dream…

He suddenly opened his eyes, however when he heard a shout of surprise that oddly sounded like Gigasmon. The said Digimon was no longer standing over him. He felt droplets of water rain down on him.

"No way!" Tommy breathed. JP forced himself up once again to see Whamon upright. In front of the creature, a small blue figurine floated above the ground. JP blinked, a tugging sensation filled his soul.

"…My Beast Spirit?" he questioned, blinking in doubt. It was just too good to be true. He blinked to make sure he wasn't just seeing things but JP soon understood. This was reality, not a dream.

"A Beast Spirit!" Gigasmon shouted. "All mine!" From were he landed, Gigasmon jumped to his feet and towards the Beast Spirit.

JP snapped out of his wonderment and pulled out his D-tector. "Like hell!" he shouted, pointing it towards the figure. Like a piece of metal to a magnet, the Beast Spirit went towards JP's D-tector. Gigasmon landed where it had been a second later and looked back at his stolen prize, glaring at the true owner of it.

Deciding that it was worth the risk, JP Spirit Evolved using the Beast Spirit, becoming a giant stag-beetle themed tank with blue cannon arms. A sudden feeling of power engulfed him made of raw emotion and power. With it, memories passed over him…lonely days…being left behind…

"_They will only leave you. They don't appreciate you. They think you're nothing but trash."_

_R-really?_ JP looked over the memories, confusion filling his mind. It was soon followed by grief and anger and then, he had no control. Like a rampaging wild animal, he fired away at random with twin blasts of electricity. Then he heard the screams of his friends as they ran for cover. For a minute, he remembered them. _What the hell am I thinking? Gigasmon is my enemy for crying out loud! I have to attack him, not my friends._

And with that, he stopped himself though it was a little hard to push aside the suffocating feelings and the voice shouting in his head. He kept reminding himself that they were different. _If_ they wanted to leave him, they would have already.

He sighted Gigasmon racing towards him. MetalKabuterimon easily knocked him away with one of his arm-cannons. The Digimon landed several yards away and was starting to get up.

JP decided it was time to finish it. Gigasmon all together had been a pest for _far _too long. He put himself parallel to the ground and readied his cannon on the top of his head. He took a minute to get a good aim where he and his rock made soldier were standing before the cannon started charging. "Electron Cannon!" he shouted, firing the blast of electricity.

Neither Gigasmon nor Golemon had a chance to escape the attack. Golemon was instantly destroyed while Gigasmon on the other hand was endangered with the loss of his own life. His own Fractal Code had appeared around him, showing the three Spirits in his possession. He watched as MetalKabuterimon Slide Evolved as easily as he could into his Human Spirit form, ready to scan his code. Gigasmon wasn't about to let that happen. Deciding that his own life was more important than his pride for once, he forced himself to get ride of both his Beast Spirit and the Spirit of Wind in order to stabilize his Fractal Code and change into Grumblemon. He took the chance then to escape, Spirit-less and with wounded pride.

The Spirit of Wind returned to the girl's D-tector, who exclaimed something happily in Italian. Beetlemon took the abandoned Beast Spirit into his own D-tector before the strain of using the Beast Spirit for the first time made him de-evolve. He leaned back, breathing deeply and exhausted.

The two humans and Digimon ran over to him. "JP are you okay?" inquired Tommy worriedly.

He looked over to the boy on his right and nodded. "Yeah, just tired," he said, not helping but smile.

"JP, thank you," Zoe's said quietly. "I really mean it. Grazie, amico mio." JP looked at her. A sweet smile on her face and her eyes were watering.

"No problem, Z," he answered, his smile growing wider.

"You were simply amazing!" cheered Tommy, clapping his hands.

JP couldn't help but feel proud of what he did. This praise warmed his heart even though he didn't think he needed it. The smiles were all he needed. All he needed was the "thank you". Maybe being a hero wasn't so bad. Maybe standing strong for others was much more rewarding for running for yourself or just simply fighting along side someone.

Takuya, Koichi, and Strabimon soon joined them. They were slightly bruised but alive. "We managed to send Arbormon running," Takuya said. "Maybe it was you and your Beast Spirit that he was afraid of."

"Maybe," agreed JP, chortling with the others.

Then, suddenly, the roof began to turn into blue data. The group gasped as it disappeared and they heard a snarky laugh. The next thing they knew, waves of water came crashing down upon them. Then, it was dark.

**Chapter 10: End.**

**I'm pulling the idea of the police officer family member from my one-shot **_**Heroism **_**but, instead, I changed it from his uncle to his dad. For more information, see the one-shot as I'm taking several things from it (save his police officer family member being dead). And there's the mysterious voice! What does it want? Who is it? Two guesses and those who guess Cherubimon, you're dead wrong. And Zoe's Italian that she said means "thank you, my friend" in the masculine terms (since she's referring to JP, a guy friend). Yeah, lots of European languages have masculine and feminine forms (like French and Spanish). I actually looked this up, so don't go thinking I know Italian.**

**I'm actually going to start doing uploading by the week. When I'm done with three or four chapters, I'll then update one week at a time so I can have some time to relax for homework and everyone can have an update. Also, I hope to finish this story before my two-year anniversary on here in March. So if I don't finish updating by the 16****th**** of March, I'll be sure to update the last chapters of this story then. Right now, I'm about two chapters ahead. If you want to know when I'm about done with a chapter, go ahead and check out my homepage.**

**Oh, if anyone's interested in reading the original Somebody's Hero, also check out the homepage. Just thought I'd throw that out there. (shrugs) Anyway, Merry Christmas and (to appease those who don't celebrate Christmas) Happy Holidays.**


	12. Chapter 11: The Eaten Heart

**A/N: Thanks to Nxy The Last Keybearer, Hikari no Destany, Impstar, and Immortal Fallen Radiance for reviewing. ^^ Happy 2011! …And my plan really fell through. Damn homework.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I **_**never**_** will. I mean, come on! Really?**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 11: The Eaten Heart

Koji and Gazimon had been wondering the plains west of the Forest Terminal in hopes of finding the remaining Beast Spirits. He didn't know _why _he'd find one here, after all, the remaining ones (to the best of his knowledge) wouldn't have gone with _plains_. Cherubimon had assigned them to track their own Beast Spirits down. The ones he knew for sure had found theirs were Grumblemon and Arbormon. Mercurymon had refrained from even mentioning obtaining his (though, really, Mercurymon never would even mentioning it). Koji's own Beast Spirit was in Cherubimon's possession, for relatively unknown reasons that neither Koji nor Gazimon questioned. The only one missing was Ranamon's and Koji had no interest in finding hers. All that remained were the Beast Spirits that were under Ophanimon and Seraphimon's custody and those were free rein.

His body was set on his mission but his mind still wandered, wondering about he and the other boy's Spirit. _What was his name again…? _he ponder silently to himself. Then it rung in his head. _Koichi._ It sounded so much like his own… Was there something that drew him and this human together? Besides appearences? Besides names? Then he remembered Cherubimon's words: _"__If they trouble you so, destroy all evidence that they exist."_

_They don't trouble me, _he denied, shaking his head. _That boy is simply a reflection of something else. Cherubimon has his reasons for making me like this._

They continued through the grass that stood taller than Koji himself but only by a few inches. Gazimon was behind him by only a few feet, loudly cursing about his ability to see. Koji had to refrain from turning around and yelling for him to stop complaining (which would only lead Gazimon to continue just to annoy him). Lost in his thoughts, Koji didn't count on there being a drop until his foot hovered over empty air, seconds before he would have fallen. He regained his balance and sighed from the close call.

Then Gazimon bumped into him, sending both of them tumbling down the short cliff and rolling down a short slop. Koji didn't think they'd stop until they actually did by something solid. He first thought it was a rock that he had seen before he stumbled (_no thanks to Gazimon, _he thought bitterly.). However, he was quite surprised to see a living Digimon instead of a rock…or really, a living rock.

The two studied the rock Digimon for a few seconds, keeping a locked gaze with it. Koji took a few minutes to recognize the species of Digimon as that of a Gotsumon, a rather large golem Digimon with yellow eyes.

"So you're a human?" inquired the Gotsumon.

"No," growled Koji, turning his gaze into a hardened glare. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," answered the Gotsumon with a rather I'm-better-than-you tone that just made Koji want to smack the rock-head, even if it hurt him more than the other. "What do you guys even want?"

"We're looking for somethin', squirt," retorted Gazimon from Koji's shoulder. "You stay out of our business and you won't get hurt."

"Sounds like a plan to me," the rock Digimon answered, still with his snobbish voice. He then turned to run off.

Koji snorted in annoyance before turning around and continuing forwards. "Gazimon, why can't you watch where you were going?" Koji demanded in a low voice.

"How am I?" retorted Gazimon. "The grass is even taller than _you_. How about we just Spirit Evolve and look around."

"No," Koji answered curtly. Even if it had been weeks since he had last evolved, he didn't want to experience it again. He knew the weasel Digimon would bug him to no ends about it and decided to change the subject. "Get off my shoulder. You can walk."

"_Do_ you want to be sent down a hill again?"

Koji conceded angrily and allowed the Rookie to stay on his shoulder, despite how heavy he was. For several more minutes, they walked in silence. The grass began to grow shorter, now only coming up to Koji's shoulders, allowing both to see where the boy was going.

Around him, he could see trees and tall rocks and in the distances, several mountains rose towards the heavens. For a second, he thought he saw several cave entrances in it.

"What are you waiting for?" muttered Gazimon into the boy's hear. "Let's go. A Beast Spirit may be nearby, ya know." It was hard to tell if there was; after he had first met the kids, Cherubimon had converted his device into something more powerful that could better channel the potential of the Spirit of Darkness within Gazimon.

"Fine," Koji agreed. He was normally one to not like to be bossed around by others but he had to admit that a Beast Spirit could be anywhere. Koji began heading towards the mountains, still skeptical but ready for anything. Wading through the grass towards the pillar-like mountains took longer than Koji would have though but within twenty minutes, he had cleared the taller grass and he stood on the outskirts of what looked like a village.

Several Digimon were being forced into a group. Several were Gotsumon like the one Koji had ran into but he could see quite a few others he could barely name; all had a similar scared look on their faces. Four Champion level came into view from behind them.

One, a Leomon, approached an older looking Digimon, maybe a Jijimon, and growled something at him loud enough for Koji to hear. "Pay up old man," he roared, rather angrily. "Either by bits or by Fractal Code, your choice."

Koji sighed. It was rather cliché with the look at this village. A gang forces themselves on a village to "protect" them for an unbelievable wage that the village themselves can't pay. As overused as it was, Koji couldn't help but want to help in some way.

Gazimon whole-heartedly agreed to Koji's tacit disgust at the predicament. "Way of the Digital World, Koji," he sighed. "Who honestly thinks that they could even protect this village from the future? Let's get moving."

However, Koji remained still, watching the Jijimon refuse silently only to have a loud youth speak his mind. "Why should we pay you?" snarled a red dinosaur Digimon. In one hand, he held a microphone looking staff and headphones on his head. Koji easily knew it was a Shoutmon.

This spiked Koji's interest. He melded into the shadows of one of the pillar like mountains and waited.

The Leomon turned to the rambunctious Digimon. There was a look of irritation and dark amusement on Leomon's face. "What can a squirt like you do?" he growled in a sneer.

Koji sighed. This Shoutmon was going to fight them and be of no match. He already knew it. However, when the Shoutmon actually managed to get a surprise attack in on Leomon, sending the lion Digimon onto his back. The Digimon was soon on the fallen one, starting to ready for another attack but a Dorulumon had knocked him off and the Shadramon that were hassling the villagers were on him like flies onto food. The staff was out of Shoutmon's hands before he could even launch a second attack.

Gazimon sighed. "Spunky kid but highly stupid." The weasel turned around and began walking away. "Come on, let's get out of here." When Gazimon received no answer, he turned around only to see his partner wasn't where he was before. The Warrior of Darkness had run out into the daylight and was approaching the group. Gazimon sighed again. "Maybe he isn't the only stupid one here in the village."

Koji picked up the fallen staff and tapped it in his hands. "Hey," he simply stated, gaining the attention of the four Digimon and the entire village.

The Shadramon snickered. "What's this?"

"Leave this village quietly," Koji warned, only to get his threat laughed at. After all, he was small compared to these Champion Digimons but when did size mean anything? Koji kept his cool as the Digimon mocked him.

"Look at this, another small guy," laughed Yukomon, flicking one of its nine tails in mockery.

Leomon rose, glaring at the human. He was the only one who refrained from being sardonic to the boy. "What are you going to do to us, hm?"

"Let this village go and leave the Shoutmon alone or I _will_ delete all of you," Koji continued calmly, stony determination written all over his face.

"Whatever," Leomon simply muttered, waving for the Shadramon to attack the boy.

The butterfly looking-Digimon left his prey and attacked the human boy. "Flash Buster!" Shadramon shot flames at the boy from its arm cannons. Koji easily rolled out of the way and got onto his feet and began running at the airborne. Koji jumped away as series of fireballs chased after him.

He listened to the various Digimon laugh at his attempts to land a hit. He again ran forwards and picked up the pace as fireballs were fired at him. The flames landed where he had been minutes before but he kept his mind on the battle. He dove right under Shadramon and then somersaulted forwards before jumping up and spinning around. With the staff in his hands, Koji slammed it down like a hammer upon the Shadramon's back, causing it to collapse and land seconds before Koji had in a much nimbler fashion. Koji jerked the staff at the Leomon.

"I warned you," he stated. "Now get out of here before I send the rest of you packing."

The Leomon snorted. "You may have beaten one of us but you won't be able to handle all of us. GO!"

And it was true; Koji could only handle a few of them. The Dorulumon was much faster than he thought the wolf Digimon was. Several times, he barely dodged lion shaped energy blasts, broken earth, and blue fireballs. Somehow, they had managed to catch him off guard and he was rammed into the stone pillar and was knocked out upon impact.

X::::::::::X

Koji had found himself in darkness, feeling numb. He blinked as he floated, unsure what would happen. Suddenly, a blinding light pierced the darkness. He shielded his eyes, expecting to experience the cold feelings that would accompany the light. When it didn't come, he dared look. The light…it felt warm. He didn't understand. Cherubimon had told him that light often could be harsh and cold. Truthfully, he took the often as always for light's purest form. He looked at the light, squinting. Even though it was small, the darkness drew away. In the light, he thought he saw a tall and lean person, dressed in light blue armor.

He blinked several more times in hopes of getting more details of the intruder. All he could make out was brown eyes…those that seem vaguely familiar…

"Who are you?" Koji asked. He felt oddly at ease around the intruder, as if he or she was a long lost friend.

The figure didn't answer but simply offered a hand. Koji looked at the person oddly. "Who are you?" he repeated, this time regaining a little hostility.

However, the figure never had the chance to answer.

X::::::::::X

He woke up, rubbing his head. Again he found himself in darkness but this time, small glowing stones gently lit the room with enough light to be able to see. He began trying to rise out of the earthen bed but he soon found himself wincing. He hissed in agony and fell back down.

"Well, I hope that teaches you a lesson," said a condescending voice. Koji looked towards the owner of the voice only to see Gazimon sitting nonchalantly against the wall that was too made of rock. He guessed he was in a cave dwelling.

Koji grunted. "Is the village all right?" he asked.

Gazimon groaned in annoyance. "You're such a bleeding heart. Yeah, several of the Digimon teamed up with that dumbass Shoutmon and chased them out. That was after your asinine moves got you knocked out."

"Don't remind me," Koji stated, rolling his eyes at his partner's grin he could tell was there.

A new person entered the room. Shoutmon, the one who had entered the room, held a bowl of soup in his hands. He didn't look too surprised to see the boy was awake. "That was quite a beating you got" was the first thing that left Shoutmon's mouth. Koji scowled.

He handed him to bowl and a stone spoon. Koji took it without saying thanks. For several minutes, the three sat in silence but it was finally Shoutmon who broke the silence. "Why did you help us?" he asked.

Koji at first didn't answer. He lowered his spoon back into the bowl. "Those guys didn't have any right to do that," Koji answered simply. "I don't want thanks or anything like that."

Shoutmon scowled at the boy's attitude. "Well, _I_ won't then," he answered, turning around and marching out.

Koji snorted after the Rookie Digimon. He quickly finished up the soup. He had to admit, the circumstances that he found himself in was kind of embarrassing. This was the second time he had been taken care of by strange Digimon and yet he was a Warrior of Cherubimon's.

The boy painstakingly got to his feet, grabbing his jacket—that he had just noticed wasn't on him—off the floor. "Gazimon, how long have I been out?" he asked.

"A day," the Digimon answered. "Oh, make sure you don't get too comfortable around here."

Koji looked back at Gazimon, narrowing his eyes. "What does that mean?"

Gazimon simply smirked. "You know what I mean," he answered cryptically before leaving. Koji simply rolled his eyes and followed after him. The two found themselves outside once again. The sky above was painted in the beautiful rays of sunset. The two parts of the Warrior of Darkness began walking but they were forced to stop as the Jijimon that they had seen the day before stood before them.

"Here we go," muttered Gazimon, rolling his eyes.

"Why do you leave now?" asked the Jijimon. "You're badly hurt. It's a surprise those attacks didn't reveal your Fractal Code."

"I am pretty impervious," Koji stated.

"Not anyone is impervious," answered Jijimon. "Why don't you stay and rest up?"

Koji backed up a step. "No," he replied quickly. "I'm fine." However, his body betrayed him. It began aching, first his head and then his sides. After the pain subsided a little, Koji looked up. "I'm fine," he insisted but a simple grin defeated the boy. The Jijimon guided him back into the cave and the boy didn't struggle.

X::::::::::X

Koji had been forced to stay for a few days. He had remained cold to the villagers that had come to see him but he soon found himself acting warmer to them. He began giving them thank full nods and kept his daily glares to a minimal. He actually began to find himself more at home with these Digimon. The Shoutmon was one of his more frequent visitors and the two came to a mutual understanding.

When Gazimon mentioned leaving, Koji just ignored him. Compared to life as a Warrior, the life in the village seemed to appeal to him more. It had something that lacked in his life as the Prince of Darkness: sincerity. The people in the village were sincere about liking him there and they didn't ask for anything. He hated wanting to leave but he knew he had duties as one of Cherubimon's Warriors…

And Gazimon was more than willing to remind him of that, no matter what. For Gazimon, the most important thing was loyalty to his master.

X::::::::::X

On Koji's fourth day of staying in the village, he felt much better—better enough to leave. He rose, surprised to see the cave-home that he was staying in completely empty of Gazimon and Shoutmon. He then had a sinking feeling. _This isn't good._

Koji went outside, tying his bandana around his head and putting on his blue jacket. Walking outside, he then noticed that the villagers were standing right in front of the four Digimon that had hassled the village earlier. He gritted his teeth and walked forwards.

Shoutmon was standing ready to fight along with several other Digimon but none of the thugs moved, as if waiting for someone. Koji's bad feeling only got worse.

"What do you want?" he demanded, stopping next to Shoutmon. "Leave these people to what little peace they can have."

Leomon turned to him. "Oh, you mean your _friends_ are going to come here, demanding for the Fractal Code?" Leomon asked.

Koji blinked, taken aback. Did he know about his ties to Cherubimon's other Warriors?

Shoutmon snorted. "Yeah, right Koji's with Cherubimon's guys. If he wanted our Fractal Codes, he would have taken them," he stated.

Yukomon stepped forwards. "Don't you see he is playing you?"

"Shut up!" Koji shouted. "I don't know who told you that but I'm not playing anybody!" His temper rose. He had no problem with people reminding him of his not-so-friendly comrades (though he didn't like it much) but claiming that he was here to destroy the village was crossing a line.

"So, you don't deny being apart of Cherubimon's forces?" Shadramon sneered.

"No," Koji answered. If Koji had thought that through, he would have been a bit more careful with his words. The crowd fell into stunned silence.

"…What?" Shoutmon asked in disbelief.

"So you were going to wait until you got better and left this village to be destroyed by your friends?" questioned Leomon.

"No, I-!"

Koji was quickly cut off by another question but this time, it was Shoutmon who spoke up. "You…you're really apart of Cherubimon's forces?" he questioned slowly. Koji looked at the small Rookie but quickly adverted his eyes from the desperate look on Shoutmon's face. "Koji?"

Sudden shouts of disgust suddenly erupted from the crowd. He tried to hold it in; the pain, the confusion, the rage that was starting to fill up. Stones and small attacks began flying at him. His body felt the recoil but emotionally, he was barely holding it together. He didn't feel like he was there, that everything was happening to a body that he was only connected to. He felt solidness under him and forced his head to rise.

Shoutmon filled his vision and the look of boiling rage upon the Digimon's face broke him. "You dare…" Koji was able to hear the angry words over the blur of jeers and shouts.

Suddenly, he found himself being picked up. He felt giant furry paws clamp onto his shirtfront. His vision had become blurry as hot tears rolled down his eyes. Hurt, betrayal, anger…he wanted it to all go away. _"Are you will to now let go of your heart?"_

_Yes, Lord Cherubimon,_ pleaded Koji. _It hurts…please, make it stop…_

"_You know what you must do."_

Gazimon began making his way through the crowd. He looked towards his partner's figure, a small grin on his face. _Finally_, he thought, _he's ready._

Gazimon rushed forwards, screaming a battle cry. He launched himself at Leomon's back and dug his claws into them, scratching the lion's back. Leomon screamed in pain and let got of Koji. Gazimon abandoned his attack to join his partner on the earth.

"Ready, Gazimon?" asked Koji.

"Of course," Gazimon answered, an insane smirk on his face. "Let's lay these guys to waste. _All of them_." Koji's only answer was retrieving the dark orb from his pocket and holding it above him, shouting the command.

"Spirit Evolution!"

And the deed was done. All emotion disappeared voluntarily. The last thing that left his mind was the figure in white, which only shook its head in disappointment. Then, he felt nothing. A void was all he had emotions and what took over was cold calculations.

And the results were to destroy the entire village. It was all too easy. Devimon easily cut through the thug Digimon first then he turned his attention towards the retreating figures of the villagers. They were next but a red beacon stopped him, a steel microphone-staff held in front of him with mixed feelings of fear, horror, and determination.

"I won't let you harm my friends," he stated. Devimon noted his determination and his rage but he said nothing. Devimon, in one swift movement, shot his hand through the red Digimon, forcing out his code. The devil Digimon took it and allowed the DigiEgg to fly away before going after the other Digimon and flying into the blood red sky like a bird of death.

**Chapter 11: End.**

**Yes, this is the village of Gotsumon from episode 10. Why isn't the Beast Spirit of Light there? You'll see later. 8) Also realized that I gave Koji his D-tector in his ddebut chapter but didn't use it to evolve when he did the first time around. Whoops. **

**Heavy inspiration was drawn from an episode of Avatar centered on Zuko where he's doing soul searching and he saves a village only for them to shun him because he's the Fire Nation's prince. Also, the title is heavily inspired by the Heartless from Kingdom Hearts where they steal people's hearts where they then became Nobodies, bodies with no emotion, much akin to Koji falling into Devimon (but to a different extent). The Heartless in this case is Gazimon. XD**


	13. Chapter 12: Strabimon's Wild Adventure

**A/N: First off, thanks to Digital Moon Fighter, Hikari no Destany, Immortal Fallen Radiance, and Nyx The Last Keybearer for reviewing. =) This is so random, it's ridiculous. A strange parody that should never exist: Wizard of Oz meets Indiana Joans. I feel bad for Strabimon. XD**

**Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Digimon. Don't believe me? Ask the voices!**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 12: Strabimon's Wild Adventure

A couple of day ride in the salty sea air was great for the Warriors. The cool breeze that wafted passed them left them relaxed and after what they had seen and been through, a few days of rest was well deserved; only if they could get Strabimon to see it.

The said grouch sat with his back to the rest of them, ears pricked and his eyes looking back the way they were coming from in hopes of seeing _some_ enemy coming their way. He was itching for a fight. Strabimon would have said it was in his blood. He hated sitting still for so long. He was a Warrior, meant for fighting not sitting around. The lack of action irritated him to no ends and it was only made worse when he looked back at the relaxing humans and Digimon, as if their duty didn't even _exist_. He couldn't wait to finally reach land.

His ear twitched and he spun around automatically to see the approaching person. There, Takuya stood stock-still as if he was inching his way over to the Digimon and hoping that he wasn't noticed. Strabimon rolled his eyes. "What do you want?" Strabimon asked, his aggravation seeping into his voice.

The boy however didn't answer, still staying still. Strabimon's ears twitched. "Well?" he pressed, his irritation peaking to anger. The boy didn't answer and after several more minutes, Strabimon decided to turn back around and keep watch.

A few seconds later, he heard footsteps and he span around. Takuya was standing only a yard behind him now. Strabimon growled and rolled his eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

When Takuya didn't answer, he turned back around while muttering idiot. The next set of footsteps, he decided to ignore. It wouldn't do him any good. However, he didn't expect to be poked in the back of the head. Strabimon jumped, span around, and smacked the goggle-head in one fluid motion, seething in anger.

"_What the hell was that about_?" he hissed slowly, trying to keep his voice in control but the anger still boiling over that was ready to blow any second with the wrong misstep on the boy's part. His nasty glare, however didn't faze Takuya none. He turned around and gave the other children a piece sign.

"I did it," he said. Strabimon's anger only got worse.

"Was this some kind of _game_, Takuya?" he demanded lividly. Takuya turned back to the wolf, not too worried.

"We were bored," Takuya sighed. "The breeze is nice and all but just riding on the back of a Whamon can get boring. I now know how that guy felt being stuck in a whale's stomach."

Strabimon had no idea what rubbish the boy was talking about. He just wanted to strangle the Warrior of Flame then and there and in order to—hopefully—quench that hunger, he gripped the air and twisted it in his fury. This didn't ease his anger at all, though.

What saved Takuya from getting pounced on was when Tommy called out, "Land-ho!" The two ran over to the other four and peered into the lower sun to see a mass of land.

"_Finally_!" exclaimed Zoe. On their two-day trip, she had turned a little green.

_Finally indeed,_ Strabimon thought irritably. However it was only a couple of more hours until they reached land and so the group began deciding what their next course of action was going to be. They had two options: continue gathering their Beast Spirits and fight Cherubimon themselves or find a way to get the Fractal Code back and revive Seraphimon.

"Well, either way, we're going to be fighting Cherubimon's goons," noted Zoe, braiding a small lock of her blond hair in order to keep herself busy.

"Yeah but we don't know how powerful they really are and we don't know if they have Beast Spirits already," Takuya said. "We know that Grumblemon and Arbormon do but what about the others?"

"We also have to fight Koji," Koichi added. His gaze went to his feet. "He's was very powerful as Devimon when I fought him but I'm afraid that he's loosing himself."

Tommy blinked. This was the first any of them had heard about Koichi fighting. "What do you mean?" the young boy asked curiously.

"When he Spirit Evolved with that Gazimon, he just wasn't himself," Koichi explained in a quiet voice. _"Koji? That name no longer exists. I am Devimon."_ The cold glare, the hollowed yet proud voice; none of it was natural. With what little Koichi knew about his twin brother, he knew that it wasn't his true nature—in fact, it wasn't natural, or right, for _any_ human to be like that.

"Don't worry," Takuya stated from next to Koichi. He patted his friend's back comfortingly and gave the boy a small smile. "We'll be sure to save Koji."

"Yeah," agreed the others enthusiastically.

"He's human just like the rest of us," Zoe added. "There's just something wrong with him."

Strabimon snorted and gave a dark chuckle. How naïve were these children? The humans looked at Strabimon in surprise. Takuya's face contorted into a look of irritation. "What's so funny?" the boy demanded.

"Koji isn't some princess locked away in a castle waiting for a royal knight," Strabimon explained.

"Yeah, we know that," Takuya responded. Strabimon shook his head.

"You are all so stupid," he continued. "You all just don't get it. How can you save someone who doesn't want to be saved? You are trying to save him from someone who doesn't have control of him. If he wanted to be saved, he would have done it himself."

"No, Strabimon, I don't think _you_ get it," Takuya said, standing up. "I'm sure that he doesn't want to be saved because he doesn't know what he's in. He _needs _it."

Strabimon stood up himself off of instinct. "How do you know what he needs, goggle-head?" Strabimon countered. "You would be the one needing to be saved. You can't even control your own Beast Spirit!"

Takuya winced for a second. Strabimon knew he had hit a soft spot and he wouldn't let it go. "You always just run in without thinking. One day, I'm sure you'll get everyone hurt because of it."

Takuya's face hardened. "Is compassion such a sin for you?" the Fire Warrior shouted. "You are such an asshole, I can't believe you're even alive! Koji needs our help and you just say 'leave him be'!"

Strabimon snarled, putting his face only inches from Takuya's face. "We have more important things to do than waste our time trying to save someone, you moron. He's far beyond our help."

"How do you know this, huh?" seethed Takuya. Strabimon saw his eyes dancing with fire of anger and determination.

Strabimon honestly didn't know for sure but seeing what he had saw with their few encounters with the Warrior of Darkness, he had seen that he was so twisted. Honestly, he was sure that one day, the boy would be beyond saving. However, that also meant that there was a chance to "save" him.

Strabimon didn't answer Takuya question, instead, he just drew away. "You don't get it," he sighed aggregately as he walked towards the front of Whamon and gazed out towards the island that was slowly coming closer and closer.

Takuya clenched his teeth. "Oh, really?" At this moment, Koichi and Zoe had risen to try to calm down the leader but it was of no use. "I think I get it," Takuya continued after jerking himself out of Zoe's grip. "I honestly think I get you. You're just a cold heartless ass so bound in his 'duty' that he can't think of his friends. If you didn't need us, I bet you'd just kill us all because we're 'in the way.''" While saying his accusation, Takuya had taken several steps towards Strabimon.

Then, suddenly, Strabimon span around and slashed at the boy with his claws, leaving four shallow gashes on the boy's right cheek ranging from a few centimeters below his eye to the bottom of his jaw. Strabimon registered the gasp from the other four. He glared down at Takuya before turning his attention towards the others. The thought of going too far had reached his mind but he was far too angry to really register it. With that, he turned around and dove into the water and began swimming towards the island.

His hands expertly cutting through the water as his mind called insults back at the group of naïve humans. They knew nothing of the world of battle. He had vague memories of fighting from his travels as AncientGarurumon. He remembered fighting other Digimon, a giant mirror Digimon and feeling rage swell up in him. That Digimon, Strabimon guessed he was much like Koichi's brother: lost but wanting to stay blissfully unaware of it.

After an hour, he finally made it to the island, worn out and hungry. The sky above him had now turned orange and red as the sun began to set. He sighed and sat down on the sandy beach. A few yards away, the outskirts of a tropical jungle had began.

Strabimon sighed again, resting his head against a palm tree he had sat under. He closed his eyes in hopes of getting a little rest. For a few minutes, or so he thought, the wolf Digimon did have it but was interrupted by someone shaking him awake. Strabimon growled, opening an eye and ready to tear someone's (namely Takuya's) head off. However, he was fairly surprised to be awakened by a SuperStarmon.

"Ah, you're awake," the SuperStarmon said, relieved as he adjusted his hat. "I thought you were unconscious."

Strabimon's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Dead?" he repeated.

The SuperStarmon nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "I thought you were chased down by the curse of Mummymon."

Strabimon rolled his eyes. _What a loon_, he thought. Strabimon got up and began walking away. "Whatever," Strabimon stated as he walked off. He stopped dead in his tracks when the SuperStarmon ran in front of him, blocking his path.

"You can't go on your own," SuperStarmon stated.

"Seems like you've done fine on your own," noted Strabimon before walking past him.

Again, the SuperStarmon stopped him. "I just got here. I've heard about the curse of this island and the treasure here."

Strabimon snorted, stated his lack of interest in the subject but somehow, the star-shaped Digimon got him to go along with him. After a few minutes, they were walking down a road made of gold bricks and all the while the SuperStarmon was jabbering away about a lamp of some sorts. Strabimon rolled his eyes, not sure why he allowed himself to follow the chatterbox. A vein started to throb in his head. _This is far worse than the other five put together, _he snarled to himself. _They at least don't talk forever._

Finally, he lost it. "Can't you just shut up?" Strabimon demanded to the star Digimon.

"But aren't you interested in the lamp?" SuperStarmon asked, slightly hurt.

"No," the irked Digimon answered curtly. "The only reason I'm here is because you've dragged me with you."

SuperStarmon blinked. "Well, if that's how you feel, then why didn't you ditch me when my back was turned?"

Strabimon was taken aback. Why hadn't he thought of that before? He, however, quickly recovered but had nothing back to retort. The two were left in silence and SuperStarmon just shrugged before continuing on. Strabimon followed after flattening his ears. As time wore on, Strabimon kept looking back towards the beach. He didn't realize it until SuperStarmon almost made him trip over because the Rookie wasn't paying attention.

After re-establishing his balance, Strabimon glared at the SuperStarmon. "Why did you suddenly stop?" Strabimon demanded, annoyed.

SuperStarmon studied him for a minute. "Do you have comrades that you were waiting for?" he asked.

"No."

"Then why are you looking back there?" SuperStarmon pressed.

"Why do you ask so many questions?" Strabimon demanded, trying to drop the subject. The last thing he wanted to do was except that he was worried about the others.

SuperStarmon didn't say anything. Suddenly, he burst out laughing, startling Strabimon almost off his feet. "Man, I'm starved," he chortled. "Let's go find some food!" Strabimon forced back a growl and followed him, angry about the random outburst but a bit hungry himself.

It wasn't long before the two found a small grove of trees that had fruit in them. Strabimon cocked his head to the side, studying the trees for a minute. There was something off about them. He had never been to an island but from what he'd seen, these trees were different, more like the ones that were found on the main lands.

SuperStarmon must've not noticed this and had made his way over to the trees. "I don't think that's a good idea!" Strabimon shouted after him.

SuperStarmon looked back at him almost playfully. "What's the worst that could happen?" he called back. "They're just trees!" Strabimon watched him turn back to his goal in the trees. SuperStarmon began scaling them and everything seemed okay. Strabimon, however, didn't relax his guard and followed him just in case.

A sudden call of annoyance made both of them jump. "Hey! G't off me!" shouted someone. The two looked around wildly, unsure where the voice had come from. The tree suddenly shook violently, as if alive. SuperStarmon was thrown to the ground and the two were left to gasp as the tree pulled its roots out of the ground. Several others did the same, all turning towards them.

"Cherrymons!" shouted SuperStarmon.

The Cherrymon turned to them, all glaring down at the two. "What d'ya want?" snarled the one that SuperStarmon had tried to scale.

The golden star laughed nervously. "Funny question," he answered, trailing off slightly.

"He just wanted some food," Strabimon answered nonchalantly. At that SuperStarmon gave off a squeal and shook his head in rapid succession. Strabimon quickly came to regret it. The Cherrymon angrily shot fruit at them, calling out jeers about having their food. It was a wonder how the two managed to get out with barely any welts and bruises.

When the two finally stopped, they were farther down the yellow road. Strabimon snarled at SuperStarmon as he laughed. "You moron! You have to be careful!" Strabimon shouted between huffs.

"Well, it isn't my fault that they attacked us," SuperStarmon laughed breathlessly. "Mon, that was fun!"

Fortunately, nothing really happened for the rest of their venture. They managed to find some food as the three moons rose in the sky. The two decided to take a rest and built a fire. As they ate, Strabimon looked back from where they were going.

"Hey, you sure you're not missing someone?" asked SuperStarmon, startling Strabimon and making him snap his head back, fighting an embarrassed look.

"What are you talking about?" Strabimon grumbled, trying to act dumb.

SuperStarmon, however, saw through the act. "I noticed that you're always bitter, Strabimon. You try to act tough but you keep looking back," he stated in a more solemn tone than Strabimon thought he was capable of. "You aren't allowing yourself to miss something…or maybe someone?" He flicked his hat up to get a better view of him.

Strabimon narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at? That I left someone and I'm guilty?"

"Exactly. Just why is that?"

Strabimon avoided his gaze, looking at the lone palm across the road. "You see how that tree just stands there?" Strabimon asked, indicating towards it. "It stands there alone with nothing around it. Through storms and sunshine, it managed to stand on its own with no help and the tree became strong. If there were other trees around it, it wouldn't be so strong."

SuperStarmon listened silently, nodding at the end. "So, basically, you're that palm tree? What you don't realize is that palm didn't do it on its own." He continued after getting a quizzical look from Strabimon. He first pointed to the earth. "This ground gives the roots nutrients for food. The sky,"—he pointed to the sky—"gives the tree water in the form for rain. The sun gives it energy so it can make food and also gives it a goal to reach towards it above others."

Strabimon blinked. He never thought about it that way. The humans…his ears twitched and then flattened. He looked away and sighed. "Maybe we should get going?" he suggested, for once in a softer tone.

X::::::::::X

The two were walking for almost an hour when they came to a cave. SuperStarmon pulled out a map and announced that this was what he was looking for and the two entered the cave. Using glowing rocks provided by the Digimon in the hat, the two were able to navigate the cave knowing at least where they were going.

For what seemed like a while, the cave didn't turn or split into a fork. Strabimon twitched his ears in annoyance. "Is this a little too easy?" he asked.

"I have to agree with that," said SuperStarmon with a tone of slight astonishment. "Normally these things are booby-trapped." His voice quickly became light. "Mon, maybe we won't come across any traps!" SuperStarmon spoke too soon; before the two knew it, they were at the bottom of a hole and in a new corridor, piled on top of one each other.

Strabimon snarled as he got off the star Digimon. "Maybe you should keep your mouth shut."

SuperStarmon got up, chortling to himself. "Maybe I did jinx us," he giggled. "Now, we just gotta be…" SuperStarmon cut himself short as he heard the click as if something had fallen into place.

Strabimon looked down at where his foot had landed. "Oh crap," he growled to himself.

"Shh!" SuperStarmon pleaded, trying to listen for something. In the distance, there was a rumbling noise, almost like thunder. "Move!" screamed SuperStarmon, beginning to run.

"What?" Strabimon asked after him, slightly confused.

"JUST DO IT!"

And Strabimon didn't ask any more questions as he looked back; he saw a boulder rushing down the corridor. The two ran as fast as they could. Strabimon wasn't used to running from anything but if he had stopped for too long, he would have gotten flattened. If he somehow did manage to even attack it, his attack couldn't have done anything and he would have still gotten flattened. Either way he went about it, he was—as Takuya would say—definitely screwed. And so, he just kept running only a few paces behind the SuperStarmon who was much swifter, almost making Strabimon wonder if SuperStarmon was accustom to falling for this kind of trap.

They kept running for what seemed like forever and Strabimon began lagging behind a little, his energy becoming spent and breath coming hard but he kept pushing himself so he wouldn't become a Fractal Code and egg. In his head, he swore and cursed and wondered how he had gotten into such a predicament.

Then, as if it had been part of a drama, Strabimon had lost his footing over nothing but air. His first instinct was to scramble to his feet but he had no time and he found himself sucked under the boulder, eyes squeezed shut in fear that he had never felt before. Regrets flashed by but when he found that he was still thinking at _all_, he couldn't help but look up.

The boulder had passed over him, almost like nothing. He sat up and stared at the ground around him and felt it. Oddly, it was completely level. He looked down the corridor as he heard SuperStarmon shouting something along the lines of "My voice gives me super strength" and then an attack. Only a few seconds later, he heard a loud popping noise, as if a giant balloon had been popped.

The wolf Digimon raced down to check out what had happened only to come across a dumbfounded SuperStarmon as if he was frozen in mid-strike, staring at a Thunderballmon.

The Thunderballmon gave out a screech and zoomed past. After it past, Strabimon bent down and examined a sheet of cloth. "What the hell was that about?" he wondered aloud, hoping that SuperStarmon might have an explanation for what had happened.

"Well, I just pissed my pants for nothing," SuperStarmon stated, not moving for a minute. Strabimon stood up and showed him the cloth.

"Apparently, someone's idea of a sick joke," he said. "That Thunderballmon was inside of it. Must've been making all those noises."

"I have been chased by boulders but never balloon ones," muttered SuperStarmon, taking the cloth and looking it over. He then chuckled to himself. "I may have to use that sometime."

Strabimon shook his head disapprovingly and in slight annoyance. "You could have stopped that thing all along couldn't you?"

"Yeah…" SuperStarmon began. "I could've but I have an one-track mind when I panic. When I saw you go under, it switched from flight to fight."

Strabimon growled for a minute but then stopped, remembering his regrets. One of them was being too harsh to the humans. He shook his head. _My comrades_, he corrected. He just sighed, giving SuperStarmon a look before walking past him. "Let's just keep going," he grumbled in a low voice.

"Ah, right!" SuperStarmon ran after him.

X::::::::::X

The two kept going until they finally reached a bright chamber, light by flame torches that reflected off of piles of pure gold and other precious metals. Strabimon's mouth dropped slightly at the sight of it. "This is all from Lucemon's castle," SuperStarmon explained, answering the question on where it all came from that was painted on Strabimon's face. "According to legend, before Lucemon's fall, several Lucemon loyalists that foresaw his doom had buried away his treasure and locked away his last two cronies."

The two walked through the chamber with wonder painted on the tag-along's face and no interest in the other. SuperStarmon pointed ahead. "I'm here for the lamp since I know it's the only thing that isn't booby-trapped around here."

"Really now?" came a voice from ahead of them. A sarcophagus rested against the door they were heading towards. It suddenly stood straight and opened up, revealing a Mummymon as its contents and the owner of the voice.

The two stood ready to attack. "It's the Mummymon I was talking about earlier," he explained to Strabimon. The wolf rolled his eyes.

The Mummymon pointed his gun at them. "Come no closer," it said, the voice didn't seem threatening but Strabimon took no notice. The Rookie readied his claws.

"Get out of my way so I can just get out of this crazy adventure," Strabimon threatened. The mummy repeated his warning and Strabimon ran into battle, SuperStarmon shouting after him to wait.

"Licht Bein!" Strabimon jumped into the air and flipped over, his leg glowing with a faint light. It collided with the gun. Mummymon's face was blank but Strabimon thought he saw something in his eyes before the Digimon sent him flying into a pile of gold.

"Strabimon! Hang on!" SuperStarmon shouted, running in and unleashing a bunch of shooting stars to intercept energy blasts from Mummymon's rifle.

SuperStarmon came to a sliding halt in front of Strabimon. "If you want to curse anyone, do it to me, ya overgrown corpse," he warned, pointing a finger at him. "I'm the one here after the lamp." After that, he shot beams from the points of his star-shaped body.

Mummymon, with surprising agility, jumped into the air to escape the attack. At the same time, the corpse Digimon shot ribbons of his wrappings at SuperStarmon, capturing him like a snake coils around a mouse. With a sudden jerk, SuperStarmon was pulled right towards Mummymon and SuperStarmon collided into his knee. The Digimon collapsed onto the ground as the coils loosened. The gun was moved in a point-blank firing position. For several seconds, nothing seemed to happen. As Strabimon pulled himself out of the gold pile, he watched the Digimon wonder why nothing had happened. _He has SuperStarmon right where he wants him…why isn't he firing?_

He played the battle over in his head. _Why…?_ The look…the voice…it was like he didn't have the heart to do it…_Then why are we fighting him? _

Then, the answer hit him…_we threw the first punch. He's only defending himself._

This was rather unnerving for Strabimon but then, it made sense. The same thing normally happened with his arguments with Takuya and JP. He always shot something to piss of the others or he simply blew up. He shook it out of his head. Now wasn't the time.

Deciding to go out of his norm, he stood still and relaxed, hoping that all intimidation was gone from his form and asked in an even voice, "Why are you here?"

The Mummymon slowly looked up, forgetting about his victim under his rifle. "I'm here to stop any and all intruders from taking the lamp," he answered in a monotone voice but there was a hint of relief in his voice.

"Strabimon, what're you—?" SuperStarmon began but the said Digimon held up his hand to quiet him.

"Shut up, I'm trying to talk here, SuperStarmon," he said before turning back to Mummymon. "Why do you wait for us to attack you?"

"Cursed," explained Mummymon in a raspy voice. "I'm locked here…I can never leave…I have killed so many and—! I-I'm here to keep others from getting the lamp to resurrect Lucemon."

"We have absolutely no intention!" exclaimed SuperStarmon, inching his head out from the rifle's point. "I'm here to destroy the lamp."

Strabimon and Mummymon looked at him with skeptical looks. "Why the hell didn't you tell me that before?" he muttered.

"R…Really?" Mummymon asked, lifting the rifle away from SuperStarmon and allowing the Digimon to scramble to his feet.

"Yeah," he affirmed.

Mummymon checked him over, his features revealing nothing of what he was thinking. Finally, he nodded and stated thoughtfully, "You do this and I won't have to take your life."

"R-right," answered SuperStarmon, turning towards Strabimon. The two edged their way over to the doorway, still careful of the mummy. Once through, they found themselves in a hallway that lead to a new room.

"You really were going to do that?" Strabimon asked, looking down at SuperStarmon, still doubtful.

SuperStarmon didn't look up. "That's right," he answered. "I've heard of those who want to resurrect Lucemon because of how bad the world has gotten under Cherubimon's rein of terror. I came hear after hearing about the lamp in hopes for that tyrant to never come back."

"Why don't you just ask it to destroy Cherubimon?" Strabimon asked with a grimace. Sure, it would put him out of a job but it would save the humans sweat and tears.

"That's the draw back, my friend," he began. "There are rules to it. I made sure to read up on it and there are three rules: they can't resurrect Digimon, they can't kill them, and they can't make them do anything out of the ordinary of their character."

"But Lucemon's dead."

"Wrong, he's just sealed away," SuperStarmon corrected. "Didn't you hear about the tales of the Ten Legendary Warriors?"

Strabimon looked away quickly in embarrassment. He had heard it from Bokomon but he couldn't remember it entirely as he wasn't paying full attention when Bokomon had told it to Koichi when they first met.

Finally, they arrived in a circular, dome-roofed room. A single light from the sky came from a hole in the ceiling, falling on a gold oil lamp. "All that trouble is now over," SuperStarmon said, wistful.

"Not that sad," Strabimon stated. "I _never_ want to go through something like that again."

"Oh, my friend, that's life."

Strabimon rolled his eyes but couldn't stop a small smile spreading across his lips. "Just destroy the damn thing and let's just get this over with."

"Right." SuperStarmon took a step back. "Halley Squall." In a bright flash, the lamp was destroyed by the shooting stars. For a second, everything was quiet.

"Is that everything?" asked Strabimon, looking around in almost disappointment.

"Well, this isn't like I just stopped the apocalypse," answered SuperStarmon lightly. "Let's just get out of here." He began turning but then the two stopped when they heard the noise of stone sliding against stone. The two readied for a fight but Strabimon's mouth almost dropped when he saw five familiar faces stumble into the room, followed by two Digimon and a blue egg.

"Strabimon, how the hell did you get here?" Takuya said with a mix of anger and surprise in his voice.

"Me? How'd you five get here? And past all those—? What the hell? There was another door?" Strabimon looked back at SuperStarmon, glaring. "Don't tell me you _didn't _know about that?" he hissed slowly.

SuperStarmon backed away slowly, hat firmly in his grip. "I…might have…let the idea of a back door slip," he said hesitantly, his tone almost embarrassed. "I…thought it would be…more fun? Heh, heh…"

Strabimon's ears fell back against his head and his fur bristled and before Strabimon could even leap at him, SuperStarmon had booked it out of the room the way that he had came. He was about to go after the fleeing figure but Tommy's voice stopped him.

"Hey, who was that?" Tommy piped up. Strabimon looked back at them for a minute, about to bite off the young boy's head off but stopped himself. He clenched his teeth and exhaled a heavy breath.

"We have a lot of talking to do…" he said, joining them. He looked around at their aghasted faces because of his lack of blowing up. "First, I want to know where this back door came from and how the hell you didn't get here without running into traps."

"We did," answered Bokomon. "You did as well?"

"Man, I wonder why security is so tight around here," sighed Takuya, falling onto his butt. "I _never _want to go on a treasure hunt if it's like this again." They exited the room, deciding to make camp and exchange their stories. It had been a long night and now it was almost morning. They could rest before they continued, anyway.

**Chapter 12: End.**

**Told you! Follow the yellow brick road~, Indiana Jones-style! This was actually heavily based after an episode from Xros Wars when they were in the Desert Zone and helping Revolvmon with a Yu-gi-oh! The Abridged Series style in it as well as a trial that the characters faced in Yu-gi-oh!: Capsule Monsters. And—WAH! —fourteen page killer! No wonder why it took so long to get this damn thing done. T_T Well, hope you enjoyed the insanity that befell Strabimon. Something akin happened to the rest of the group but instead, imagine a path filled with insane traps and puzzles.**


	14. Chapter 13: Ranamon's Islands

**A/N: First, sorry this is so damn late. Thanks to Hikari no Destany, Starowner, Nyx The Last Keybearer, Immortal Fallen Radiance, and Impstar for reviewing. Now, back to our drama filled programming. Fwahaha!**

**Disclaimer: As surely as the sun will rise…I DON'T OWN DIGIMON!**

A Changed Destiny

Chapter 13: Ranamon's Islands

Takuya and the other humans and Digimon were fast asleep in the dome where they had met Strabimon a few days before. Over the course of the week, they had made a raft from as many trees they could find. Since reuniting with Strabimon, things had become a lot quieter and many of them had decided was a good quiet. There were few arguments between all of them and when the two did fight, it was rather quick.

As their fourth and last day on the island dawned in the dome, Takuya was the first one up which was a surprise to Zoe as she herself awoke before their early riser Koichi. She carefully walked out the open passageway to see the goggle-head watching the sky and the clouds.

"Why are you up so early, Takuya?" asked Zoe as she approached his figure.

The said looked back at her in surprise. "I can ask the same for you," he answered.

Zoe shrugged, lightly leaning against the entrance and resting her head against the doorframe. "I don't really know," she answered. The two lapsed into silence. "It's so peaceful out here. It's kind of sad that we have to leave it."

It was Takuya's turn to shrug. "Yeah," he agreed, turning away from her and picking up a stone off the ground. He began tossing it up in the air and caught it. "At the same time, it needs to be done," the Warrior of Flame added. "This world is being destroyed while we sit here. "

"That sounds like something Strabimon would say," Zoe commented cheekily, a smile spreading across her face.

Takuya looked back at her with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "I know," Takuya admitted, "but it's right, no matter who says it. We don't need more lives like Sorcermon and Seraphimon to be lost by our incompetence."

Zoe flinched slightly at the memory that was only a little a week before. Despite the time that took place between it and the moment she was in, she had almost forgotten about it but more as a choice. Human nature never liked to remember terrifying or horrible experiences but they are never truly forgotten. For her, it was a limpid as if it had been yesterday. She decided to not dwell on it though, as was her nature.

"The others should be up soon," she stated, breaking the silence. Part of her slightly regretted it. It concluded a short chapter of peace before the undeniable cloud of trouble would fall over them like a fog.

Takuya rose silently before throwing the stone down the trail. For a few minutes, he remained there. He took a deep breath of the early humid tropical air and quickly exhaled it and turned towards the blonde. "Yeah," he answered before following her into the temporary shelter was before they began their journey.

X::::::::::X

The blue Warrior rested in a palm tree, soaking up the sun. Her job may have been to find her Beast Spirit but she didn't see the rush; their first group encounter with the pesky brats had been easy enough. Heck, they even defeated Seraphimon—albeit it was Mercurymon's own doing, not a group effort—but that didn't stop her from being carefree. If they easily squashed the five, then she could take on the humans on by herself. _I'm sure those scrawny rats can't even find their Beast Spirits,_ Ranamon thought to herself. _I doubt they even made it out of the cave. Shame, the blonde looked like a fun toy._

She shifted herself and sat up, stretching and yawning away her boredom. "I wish there was something fun to do in paradise," she sighed, dropping her arms and closing her eyes. "Maybe I'll go and entertain my fans," Ranamon suggested to herself out loud. Liking the idea, she leaned forwards and looked towards the sea, humming to herself. When she was about to drop from the tree, Ranamon stopped herself in both shock and the hopes of not getting seen.

She leaned low in the tree, hiding herself in the big leafs and she stared out at the open waters, eyes on a small wooden raft with several colorful figures. She knew none of them were Digimon. "Some things just don't know how to stay dead," she muttered to herself, disappointedly. "I hate when my job gets in my way of me-time."

X::::::::::X

For the day, they remained adrift on their raft. On the trip, Zoe's chipper attitude of having her Spirit back remained, even after it being a week after the incident. She kept the five other humans talking about whatever, from embarrassing school stories to their new plans (which hadn't changed much and still remained quite ambiguous to the travelers). Whenever, they tried to include Strabimon, the wolf-human Digimon refrained from talking and stared at the ocean, as if he held contempt for it and the small means of travel.

It was early evening when they finally docked on land. They hoped it was mainland but Bokomon informed them that it could have well been another island since there was an entire change of islands that the Whamon had landed them in so they decided to find someone to point them in the right direction.

And the first inhabitants were the timid Toucanmon. A quick conversation told the humans what they wanted to know and somehow, they had been talked into having some food (or rather the allure of _free_ food caused their stomachs to lurch for the chance of _real _food). Once they had some, they easily could tell that it wasn't the gourmet they were hoping for but it they had to agree it was definitely better than the garbage that the Deramon had given them.

"Man, this is great!" Takuya exclaimed after having a few bites of his cold noodles.

"Yeah," agreed the others, much to the Toucanmon's delight. The four Toucanmon ran off into the kitchen, promising them desert.

Strabimon had tried to do the same but having been the bad victim of horribly spiced green beans turned him off. He pushed his plate away from him and looked at his seven other companions with a perplexed look. "How can you eat this stuff?" he asked the others in a low voice.

Takuya picked at a piece of sliced fruit drizzled with an orange sauce and popped it in his mouth. After swallowing, he answered, "It's real food. We haven't had it for a while. It isn't the best but it's better than nothing."

"It's definitely better than those meat tasting cabbages," opined JP, taking a few pieces of what looked like sushi onto his plate.

"Can you pass me the taco chips?" Tommy asked Koichi.

Strabimon couldn't help but feel embarrassed. _I hope we aren't attacked_, he thought to himself. _This is humiliating._

X::::::::::X

"Why don't you stay for the night?" suggested a Toucanmon with a deep bow.

Another Toucanmon hastily added while flapping his wings embarrassedly, "We'd be honored!"

Takuya looked to the rest of the group before speaking his decision. All of them seemed anxious to go, knowing that they couldn't stay long. Turning back, he politely turned them down. "No thanks," he answered. "We've already lost a bit of time and we need to get going."

The Toucanmon squawked in protest, astonished by their decision. "Are you sure you want to travel at night?" one piped up. "The waters tend to be dangerous at night!"

"Y-you know, the Orcamon and the like," another explained, seeing the humans' perplexed faces. "And we'd hate to see the loss of customers!"

"It's only for the money, isn't it?" Bokomon grumbled.

"No! No!" they shrieked sheepishly before going on and hurriedly trying to explain themselves.

"Well, they do have a point," noted Koichi. "We'd be in the middle of the ocean and not all of us can combat someone _below_ us."

"Some of us can fly," Zoe said; she couldn't help not patting her skirt pocket where her D-tector rested snugly.

"Yeah but there's that entire ocean," Takuya thought aloud. "We don't know exactly how far we are from the next island nor the next continent."

"Wow, Takuya's actually using that brain of his," Zoe teased, a grin spreading across his face.

"Hey, it's common sense!" Takuya retorted, holding back his flushed face. Koichi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he chuckled.

JP pouted silently. "Besides, I don't want to know how traveling with Strabimon at night on the ocean is like," he added, gaining a glare from the said Digimon.

"So, are we staying?" asked Tommy, looking between the older humans.

"Sounds like it," answered Strabimon.

Takuya nodded and looked towards the Toucanmon. "We'll take your offer," he shouted loud enough for the birds to hear him. The squawking came to a quick halt when they heard the news. They beamed and clapped before happily taking their guests to their lodgings with a spring in their steps.

X::::::::::X

It was a few hours after dusk and their guests had fallen asleep. Then the Toucanmon did their routine cleaning before getting ready to bed down themselves.

"Finally," exclaimed the cook Toucanmon as he washed the dirty dishes. "We finally have guests after so long~!"

"Yeah," hummed the shopkeeper. He moved to adjust a display. "It's been far too long."

The boss Toucanmon rested his fist into an open wing. "This is what we need folks! They'll spread the word and Toucanmon Paradise will become a tourist site to these lovely islands! Digimon from all corners of the Digital World will come! And maybe some big names too!"

"Like Ranamon!" suggested the tourist guide with hearts in his eyes. The four squealed at the notion of such an angel gracing their doorsteps and seeing their own island. The Toucanmon began working, dancing and singing and dreaming of their own fantasies with their idol.

And it only seemed fit that the vary Digimon they sang of was drawn to the almost revolting noise with the only thing grabbing her attention was the sound of her very name. When they noticed their idol standing with faux shyness, her red eyes studying them and her hands collapsed behind her like a small child, the Toucanmon nearly had a heart attack. All they could do was gawk at her.

Ranamon tilted her head and jutted her lip out into an innocent pout. "Don't tell me you stopped singing because of me," she whispered with a sickening sweet voice that would have made anyone else want to gag. The look seemed almost unfitting for a fearsome Warrior of Cherubimon's followers. Then again, she had easily charmed half the Digital World without much effort and that titled her as very different than her companions.

"N-no!" they answered fluttering about in shame and discomfiture.

In their confusion and noise, they didn't hear Ranamon grumble, "What a bunch of headless Kokatorimon."

The Toucanmon finally calmed down, offering her tea, which she accepted quickly. "W-we-we were just surprised," the cook explained quickly. "We didn't expect to be graced w-with such beauty!"

Ranamon giggled to herself and adjusted her stance to sweep herself over with an admiring look. "Ain't I such a pretty thing?" she inquired.

"Yes! Yes you are!" they sang in response.

Ranamon straightened up and walked over to the table where her tea waited before collapsing into the chair and bursting out into forced sobs. "Oh, it's just so horrible!" she cried, her voice muffled by her arms and the table.

"Oh, what is it?" they shrieked, running up to her and asking her if anything hurt or if the space looked okay.

She snapped, almost swatting at them. "No, you twits!" she wailed. "I was robbed!" The sobbing Digimon turned to the table and continued sobbing.

"We're so sorry!" the Toucanmon exclaimed. "We'll get back whatever was stolen from you!"

"Great idea, bird brain," another stated, smacking the back of his head. "We don't know who they are."

Ranamon smirked internally. "You will?" she asked, feigning gratitude. She thanked them and told them who the "thieves" were and what was "stolen." The Toucanmon were mildly surprised about it but they swept it under the rug. The top priority was making their idol stop crying. They would have gone to the ends of the earth and collected data just get a kiss from their idol, so stealing back something that didn't even belong to her seemed like such a small feat.

X::::::::::X

Tommy awoke to the noise of hushed whispers and the rustle of blankets. His senses were dull from sleep, so he couldn't make out the voices or tell who they were. "Takuya? JP?" he asked, groggy. "Why are you guys up?"

The whispers hushed suddenly. Tommy rubbed his eyes to clear the sleep out of them and examined the still silhouettes that he knew weren't his friends. In fact, they were the Toucanmon. "What are you doing here?" he called, a bit louder than he wanted to.

They didn't reply, or really they didn't get a chance. From close by, Zoe stirred to see what Tommy was talking about. Her senses cleared far faster than the youths and the first thing that came out of her mouth was a shriek as one of them where trying to grab something off her person. The scream awoke the others.

"What's going on?" asked Takuya, blinking rapidly.

"Zoe, you all right?" asked JP.

Strabimon was the first to notice the intruders. He rose, snarling, "What are you doing here?"

Koichi watched the Toucanmon back up into the faint moonlight and noticed a dull reflection as the light touched the plastic. His hand went to find his D-tector from where he placed it before he went to sleep but all it rested on was the cloth of his vest. "The D-tectors! They have the D-tectors!" he shouted.

The Toucanmon squawked before trying to fly off but the boys were on them faster than they could take off, catching two of them by the feet. Three D-tectors dropped to the wood floor with a thud. Neemon and Bokomon scrambled for them while the boys wrestled with the Toucanmon.

"Takuya! Zoe! Tommy!" shouted Bokomon, tossing the D-tectors to their respective owners, who caught them and quickly evolved. They ran—or flew—after the other Toucanmon.

Kazemon was the first to catch up with the Toucanmon farther down the beach. Using her Hurricane Wave attack, she forced the Toucanmon to deter their flight plan in favor of dodging the funnels of wind. Agunimon and Kumamon caught up seconds later. The two combined their attacks—Pyro Darts and Blizzard Blaster respectively—and knocked them from the air with the D-tectors falling a short distance away. Kumamon ran to collect the other two.

Agunimon took a menacing step forwards, startling the timid creatures into staying low to the ground. "Why are you trying to steal our D-tectors?" he demanded.

"They don't belong to you!" shouted a Toucanmon with a strange righteous courage that wasn't expected from the creatures.

"Of course they belong to us," Kazemon stated, lowering herself to the ground. "Who told you something as crazy as that?"

"Ranamon, that's who!" screeched the other. "They belong to Ranamon!"

Cherubimon's Warrior. Takuya smacked his hand against his forehead. "What morons," he muttered.

Kazemon sighed, shaking her head. "I'll get the others here," she volunteered but she didn't get too far. The angry demands floated ahead of the incoming Toucanmon and their pursuers. The three began to run to intercept them but Agunimon stopped in his tracks when they heard a yelp of pain. Agunimon looked back in horror to see Kumamon being wrapped in Fractal Code and falling face down into the sand and the two Toucanmon standing over him.

The youth inside the armor growled. _Dirty cheaters,_ he thought, rushing at them as they picked up the boy. He had only gotten a few steps before something hard hit him in the back, forcing him to turn and face a new adversaries —a Frogmon and a Shurimon— that Kazemon had been fighting while Tommy was being abducted.

As they fought the two enemies, the other Toucanmon made their way past them and raced after their comrades.

Takuya again growled to himself as he dodged a dagger thrown at him from the Frogmon. His gauntlets flared small spurts of fire, personifying his anger. "We better get this over with," he growled. "Pyro Darts!"

X::::::::::X

Tommy struggled against his bonds but it was futile and the Toucanmon only stated it clearer to the Warrior of Ice. One of them kicked him in the butt and said, "Now watcha doing that for? We aren't just about to let you go. HEY! STOP ROCKING THE BOAT!" The Toucanmon turned to the other three as they danced to their paean, waving the young boy's D-tector around.

Tommy looked up and tried shouting but a horrible tasting gag muffled his voice. He noted a rocky ceiling that a light from somewhere illuminated. _Maybe I'm in a cave?_ He thought to himself. _I won't know my way out. If only I could break these vines. If only I had my D-tector!_

An abrupt bump startled Tommy from his thoughts. After a few more minutes, the tropical bird Digimon grabbed him and placed him against a cool wall that he could feel through his shirt. The boy shivered as he looked around.

The cave was fairly simple. The little alcove rose into two platforms and the walls were glowing from a strange rock in a lantern-like device and it illuminated a small and slender female Digimon that the boy recognized—but her name eluded him—was resting in a pool of clear water.

He watched as the Toucanmon rushed to her, proudly showing their treasure. "Ranamon! We have your device!" they cheered.

Ranamon turned to them and rose from it, casting puddles from the pool as she walked towards them with a sickening sweet smile. "You do?" she asked enthusiastically.

Tommy watched them hand her the blue and green device. He wanted to shout for them to give it back to him but it only came out muffled.

"Well, I'll be. You were true to your word." Ranamon smiled, drawing to her full height and examining it with flicks of her wrist. "So, where's the other four, sugar?" she continued, not looking down at them.

At that moment, the Toucanmon looked at each other with horrified looks. Tommy cocked his head. _They don't have it?_ he wondered. He thought back. He had grabbed the other two D-tectors…then the other two had attacked him from behind… _Maybe they dropped them? I hope JP and Koichi have them._

"Well?" Ranamon asked, her enthusiasm almost gone and replaced with curiosity.

"Well," began a Toucanmon began.

"We…may…have dropped them?" another finished with embarrassment.

"D-do you think we can get that k-kiss, R-Ranamon?" asked another before the first one elbowed him.

"We did bring you the one," the fourth said cautiously. Tommy watched as Ranamon turned an angry glare to them and the Toucanmon shrank in response.

She screamed in rage. "Whipping Waves!" she screeched. The water behind her responded, coming alive like a spinning and controlled tornado. It crashed into the quartet, forcing them down from the brute force of the attack. Some of the cool water splashed farther, raining down to all corners of the cave. Tommy, now drenched by the cool water, shivered harder.

The Warrior of Ice watched as the girl went into a rant, taking no notice of him. He watched as the Toucanmon cower in fear and awe. He almost felt like crying; this was a painful reminder of his past. He was bullied almost everyday by two older boys and when he wasn't being bullied by them, he was watching in fear as other children were bullied. He always wanted to be able to stop it but he never could. Now, he could stand against her but without the Spirit, he felt powerless. Without the others, he was powerless. _Takuya, _he prayed silently, squeezing his eyes shut. _Someone, please help me. I'm so scared._

Ranamon continued her screeching and ranting and her bombardment of insults.

What a cruel girl. What a bully.

**Chapter 13: End.**

**Takumi! 3 (shot) Oh, about Tommy's fear he feels at the end of this chapter, he has every right to. He may now be able to stand up for others but Tommy can't really stand on his own yet. The moment I truly see him standing up for himself in the anime is in the episode where he fights for the first time on his own against the Ashuramon and his final casting of his fear in the episode where they run into Katsuharu, Teppei, Chaiki, and Teuro when he stands against Teppei. Between then, I think Tommy is still fearful and if one was to take away the Spirit, Tommy would become a "scaredy-cat." For a while, his Spirit is nothing but a crutch and will thus be treated like that until further notice.**

**Oh, and yes, time for the freakin' Ranamon arc. For those of you who don't like it, you're going to have to get use to it for now since it'll last until about episode 18. Yes, you have to deal with annoying Ranamon for a while and yes, I know I'm over dramatizing Ranamon to no ends but I just find it better for the sake of this story. Fortunately for you, this one won't follow cannon to a T. It'll greatly diverge from here.**

**Well, see you next time~!**


	15. Chapter 14: In Bad Waters

**A/N: For a note, Shurimon uses the substitution jutsu (much akin to that used in Naruto) and Frogmon is the one able to absorb attack energies. Thanks to darkhaseo90, madjack89, Starowner, Hikari no Destany, Nyx The Last Keybearer, and Immortal Fallen Radiance for reviewing. :) **

Disclaimer: My voices and your voices are screaming at your stupidity for thinking I own Digimon. For those of you who know I don't own it, I give you a cyber cookie.

A Changed Destiny

Chapter 14: In Bad Waters

The fight against the Shurimon and Frogmon had been a bit tougher than what they thought it would be, even with it being a four against two (as Koichi and JP had found their D-tectors in the sand close to where Tommy had fallen). Several times, they used a substitution jutsu to dodge blows or just absorbing any elemental attacks. Any attacks launched at them were done with deadly accuracy and were fairly quick. However, Beetlemon were able to read the attack pattern quick enough. Using Kazemon and Gargoylemon's winds, they were able to startle the Shurimon as it appeared behind them. The Shurimon crashed into a conveniently placed Frogmon on Beetlemon's part, allowing the transparent mask to be covered long enough for his thunder attack to hit.

Agunimon took his chance to race in to deliver the final blow in a powerful Pyro Tornado attack. He quickly scanned the Fractal Code from the two before he turned to the others. "We have to find Tommy."

The others agreed easily and decided to use their D-tectors to try and find him. However, the weather had begun to turn for the worse. Rains began lashing down on them, forcing them to regroup at a lodge farther down the shore. This did nothing to improve Takuya's already angry mood.

Fortunately, the lodging had walls compared to the last one they stayed in so that the rain couldn't reach them. The small cabin also had more conveniences besides the shelter: they had found dried fruit and dry clothes.

"Huh," muttered Zoe, picking up a long blue dress. "I never thought Digimon wore other clothes. Especially this size."

"We don't," Bokomon stated. "The only one that really wears 'clothes' like you humans is Neemon here. The most clothes Digimon wear are scarves."

"But don't Nohemon wear clothes?" Neemon inputted.

Bokomon made a face at the yellow rabbit but didn't respond.

Zoe didn't bother continuing the conversation and decided to get changed so she could let her clothes dry. The others had taken some clothes as well. On the other hand, Strabimon easily shook himself to get rid of the excess water like a dog back in the human world.

Koichi wiped some water from his face with his sleeve. "Thanks," he said.

From there, the room fell into an intense silence. Zoe watched the rain splash against the window, Strabimon was snoozing in the corner, Bokomon coddled and cooed to the egg in his belt, Neemon was munching on some dried fruit, and JP and Koichi were carefully watching Takuya pace impatiently back and forth next to the door. They knew he was eager to get back out there and look. His face and eyes were of a dead serious that they never saw in him and it only looked to have gotten worse within the following minutes. Koichi and JP exchanged concerned looks before turning back to the goggle-head.

Finally, the silence was broken. Takuya span around, giving out an exasperated groan as he kicked the wall. "Why won't the damn rain let up?" he shouted at no one in particular. Nearby, Bokomon and Neemon jumped. Bokomon was sure that he held a firm hold so the egg wouldn't have dropped from his grip. Zoe looked over in surprise and Strabimon stirred, startled from his slumber. The wolf Digimon after seeing that there was no enemy relaxed and leaned back against the wall and watched the boy curiously.

"It's rain, what do you expect?" Strabimon stated calmly. "The elements never listen to us."

"Maybe it's because of Ranamon?" suggested Koichi. "She was able to make a rain cloud."

Koichi's idea, however, was shot down. "That wouldn't be the case," Bokomon stated, carefully placing the egg back into a blanket next to him before pulling out the green book and flipping it to his desired page before he continued. "It would take massive amounts of energy for her to create a rain cloud so huge."

Takuya growled. "Ranamon or not, Tommy's missing! Those damn Toucanmon have him and God knows where they could be!"

"They couldn't have gotten far," noted JP. "They may have been fast runners but with Tommy's extra weight, I'm sure they couldn't run too far with him, let alone fly."

"I'd assume they're still on the island," agreed Bokomon. "Might've also found cover by now."

"Well, I can't just stand here," muttered Takuya, storming towards the door.

"Takuya!" Zoe rose to her feet with a bewildered look on her face. "You're going to go out in _this_ weather? Are you insane? You'll get sick!"

"No, I won't," Takuya snapped back, giving her a hard look. His hand was rested on the door. There was no talking sense into him. "They may still be on the island and still in one place. _Now's_ our chance to look for them."

"This is unbelievable!" the blonde shook her head. "Can't you _think_? Don't be reckless!"

"I _am_ thinking!" Takuya retorted. "I'm thinking about Tommy! Apparently none of you are! I'm sure you don't even care what happens to him!"

"Oh, wow," Zoe snorted, her own temper starting to fly, "reckless and judgmental. Would stupidity also be apart of your personality?"

JP, at this moment, stood up and defended Zoe. "Takuya, Zoe has a point, you know." On his case, it was a bad move.

"Oh, now you're siding with her, fatso?" the Warrior of Flame shot.

"Takuya!"

"WHY YOU!"

Koichi watched, biting his lip and unsure of what exactly to do. He had seen Takuya, JP, and Zoe fight on numerous occasions but this was far worse than what he could have imagined. In truth, he had never seen such a squabble get this bad between the three. He was about to play the peacekeeper but he was surprised when Strabimon stepped between them, though it was a little violent as it concluded the destruction of the table to get them to quiet.

"Okay, fine. I think I've heard about _enough_," Strabimon stated, irritated. He brushed his hands together as if to dust them off and hinting at that he was ready to go farther to maintain order. "I see that all of you are being stupid here. Takuya, you're stupid for going out and thinking you can find Tommy on your own."

Takuya was about to protest but Strabimon turned away and gave the other two hard looks. "Zoe, you're stupid for overreacting and JP, you're being stupid thinking you could defend someone and not burned even though it was a semi-true statement." The two gave him a glare and Koichi decided to step in before Strabimon decided to continue. It was ostensible that Strabimon was no good at appeasing two sides of a fiery argument.

"Basically, what Strabimon is saying that we all overreacted," he carefully explained, deciding to put the blame on himself as well to propitiate the others.

For several seconds, there was silence. Koichi's eyes flickered back and forth studying the three humans' faces cautiously, unsure of what to expect next. He tensed up and his mind raced of what next to say. For several long minutes, that was how it stayed.

That was, until Neemon cheered happily, "The rain went away! That song really does work!"

Minds taken off of the recent topic, the children raced to peak out the window. It was true; there was only sprinkles of rain falling now and the clouds became lighter as the sun hit the now thinner clouds.

"[Finally,]" Zoe sighed in Italian.

"Well, isn't that rather convenient," murmured Bokomon curiously.

Takuya's exasperated glare melted into a less intense look of seriousness. He didn't want to waste anymore time. "Come on! Maybe we can now find them!" he called, rushing for the door. As soon as it opened, however, they stopped. Three of the four Toucanmon stood in their path, looking ready to fight but that only lasted for a few minutes as they saw unwelcome glares radiating from six pairs of eyes.

X::::::::::X

It remained a miracle on how Takuya had been pulled off the Toucanmon like he had. The struggle only may have lasted a few minutes and Takuya hadn't taken the opportunity to evolve to Agunimon. JP held him in a full nelson so Takuya couldn't get his hands on the badly beaten birds. All they had gotten were a few bruises but any courage that they had mustered up seemed to have left as they cowered in the corner under Takuya's glare.

"Where is _he_?" demanded Takuya, giving up his futile struggle from JP's death grip.

"W-why should we t-tell you?" shot back another. Koichi was mildly surprised that even after the thrashing like that, they'd be able to put up such a front.

"Trust me," commented Zoe, quickly glancing over at Takuya, "he's ready to blow his top and I think this time you'll lose more than just your feathers."

"Damn straight," agreed Takuya, narrowing his eyes even more.

"If they're not willing to talk, we can get answers out of them without beating the life out of them," Koichi pointed out, his statement namely directed at Takuya. He, too, hoped that he also scared the Toucanmon at the same time.

"Like what?" Strabimon asked, interested.

"Chinese water torture in mind?" asked JP.

Zoe made a face of disgust. "[That's horrible that we're going that far,]" she spoke quickly.

"Chinese water torture?" inquired a Toucanmon. "Sounds pleasant."

"You nimrod," snapped a second Toucanmon. "It's a torture."

"That has to do with water," rebutted the first.

"It's _torture_!"

"What a bunch of morons," quipped Strabimon, placing a hand over his eyes in shame of seeing such a stupid squabble if a torture was pleasant or not.

"They're even stupider than Neemon," Bokomon sighed.

"But this Chinese water sounds great!" Neemon commented.

"Scratch that," Bokomon quickly refuted.

JP let Takuya go in annoyance. "I got a better idea," he decided. JP pulled out a bar of chocolate.

"Wait, you had that all along?" Koichi inquired, befuddled by this action.

"What?"

"I don't think we should even start," Zoe sighed, palming her forehead.

JP ignored her comment and broke off a piece of chocolate and waved it in front of the Toucanmon, almost teasingly. "Well, I bet you're all hungry after that walk here to just _threaten_ us," he began, taking a bite of the bar. "I bet you guys hadn't eaten since yesterday."

"Yeah, so?" demanded the same one who had been smart enough to not call a water torture pleasant. "We have no intention of eating your disgusting human food."

"Well, your food wasn't that great either, buddy," Takuya shot back.

"Our food is a delicious!" screamed another Toucanmon, clearly insulted.

"Besides, we're not hungry!" another Toucanmon claimed. However, a quick growl of their stomachs overturned their assertion and it was music to their negotiator's ears.

"Really?" JP asked slyly, shrugging his arms. "Then you wouldn't mind if I ate this here and now, would you?"

"Go ahead," grunted the smart bird, rolling his eyes at such an accusation.

"Oh well, suit yourself."

"God, this is ridiculous," muttered Zoe to Takuya.

"Whatever works," Takuya stated, though he himself rolled his eyes.

Within a bite, a Toucanmon did break and ironically enough, it was the one that stated that they weren't hungry. "Ranamon has your friend by the cove on the other side of the island! She's in a cave that can only be reached by water!" he squawked.

JP smiled, tossing him the rest of the chocolate bar. "Thanks," he said. The four humans and three Digimon decided to leave at once and leave the Toucanmon to argue and fight among themselves. They had a job to do.

"What'd you think?" JP asked Zoe once they got outside. "My acting skills pretty good or what?"

"Mediocre," the blonde answered before running ahead and deciding to scout the island from the air for the cove and cave where their comrade was being held.

X::::::::::X

Ranamon waited. After hours of sending the Toucanmon out to find the humans, she had grown bored staring at her reflection in the still pool and sitting in it didn't seem to appealing at all, namely with an enemy in her hands. She studied the young boy with droopy red eyes, finger stirring in the water. _I've never had a human fanboy_, she thought to herself. An idea suddenly bloomed in her head.

With this, she rose and sprinted over to the young boy, putting a sweet smile on her face. The boy looked up at her with fearful eyes. He must've seen that seductive glint in them.

She gingerly lowered herself next to him and placed him in her lap. "My, oh my," Ranamon said, making her voice as sweet as honey. She grabbed his hat off his head and took it off him, ignoring the still fearful look in his eyes. Ranamon giggled and rustled his hair in amusement. "Such a cute little lad you are, sugar. I'm so sorry what my fans did to you. It's such an awful this, ain't it?"

The boy didn't answer.

"Allow me to remove the gag and tell me what you think of me?" she suggested, her smile widening into a grin. Ranamon wondered what he would say. _"You're the beautifulest thing I've ever seen." "You're so nice, miss." "I like your accent." _She amused herself with such thoughts as she carefully undid the knot that held his gag across his mouth.

As soon as it came off, she inquired, "Ain't I the nicest thing?"

Ranamon's idea of what he would say however was horribly wrong. "No!" he shouted, though she didn't know what courage he had had to gather to say such a thing. Ranamon was dumbfounded. How could this brat say such a thing to her after she undid his most likely horrible tasting gag? He should be lauding her!

"No?" she repeated, trying to keep her voice from rising shrilly. "No? How can you say 'no' to the fairest Digimon in the whole Digital World?" She breathed in shallowly. "How about I untie the rest of your bonds and you can rethink your answer?"

"No!" Tommy refused, snatching his hands away from her blue hands. "You're not nice! Zoe's much nicer than you are! Her Spirit's far prettier than you are, too!"

And that was all Ranamon needed to push her over the edge. "You'll regret that, you little brat!" she shrilled, raising her hands into the air and summoned the water behind her. As she screamed, the water rushed forwards with a vengeance and ferocity that matched her own anger. "I helped you and all you can call me is ugly?" she shrieked as the boy screamed before being plunged back into the water by the furious tide.

Her mind was distorted by emotion and rage. True, he hadn't called her ugly but it felt like it. After all, she was the fairest of them all. The best of the best. No human brat could compare to her, the mother of pearl. The little female brats were nothing but specks of sand to her. Heck, they were nothing.

She heard the boy's coughing for air as his head came above water. She heard him scream. Sick pleasure ran through her body, leaving her with a giddy feeling. Ranamon didn't care if he died. He was dispensable; after all, the human boy was her enemy. With that, she put more force into the roaring waves.

X::::::::::X

Whatever air Tommy had acquired when the water threw him up into the air was quickly slapped out of him. He was down for only a few minutes at a time, fortunately but his lungs were raw and screaming for air the whole time. His hat and D-tector had been lost in the raging waters. A few times that he was able to see, he thought the had saw the familiar orange and green that stood out in the blue waters.

He just hoped it would end. This was far worse than what he had done and he had gotten it because he had stood up for himself. The roaring waters was suddenly cut off when a chill suddenly ran through him, much like when he had hit the air. He gulped for air, ready to crash into the water, eyes squeezed shut.

However, he was far more surprised to be caught in a warm embrace. "Tommy! You okay?" asked Zoe, her voice concerned. Her voice may have been a little muffled from the water but he could tell it was her.

He opened his eyes blurrily, the familiar lavender and silver band filling his vision. "Zoe," he whimpered in a raw voice. Tears welled up in his eyes. _Thank you!_

"Hang on, I'll get you to land soon enough," she promised with a sigh of relief.

Tommy allowed a smile to creep on his face as he snuggled next to her body for warmth, thanking his lucky stars that he was found between coughs and sobs. It was all over.

X::::::::::X

Ranamon looked around wildly for her prey. She forced columns of water up in hopes that his body would fly up with the water towers. However, nothing but Digimon had been found. She glared at the ocean. He was bound so there was no way he could have swam.

She looked up at the darkening sky. The winds were picking up and she could hear the distant rumble of thunder. "I can find them before the storm comes," she said to herself, diving into the water, deciding that she'd check out the resort.

X::::::::::X

When they met up with the others on shore, Tommy was brought into Takuya's constricting embrace. He was the happiest, seeing that he was all right. The boy cried silently and refused to let go of any of them.

"What happened?" Koichi asked, patting the boy's back as he clung to JP's arm, leaving JP to try and think of something to do to comfort the boy.

"S-she tried to k-kill me," Tommy said, hoarsely. "I-I c-c-couldn't breath a-a-and I-I-I was a-afraid I was g-going to d-d-drown."

"Well, you're all right now, Tommy," Zoe answered, patting his back gently.

"Do you know where your D-tector is?" JP asked quickly, earning him a glare from Takuya and Zoe. "What?"

Tommy shook his head, sniffing and hiccupping.

"Isn't that the kid's?" asked Strabimon, pointing towards something in the water. They looked over at the object. They watched as an orange hat gingerly slid onto the sand on a tide.

Koichi was the one who went to retrieve the hat. He frowned. He was glad that Tommy was back and after the ordeal that he had been told, Koichi was glad that the boy's torture was over but with one less Spirit, things were going to be harder. He bent down for the overturned hat only to stop suddenly as his eyes fell onto the contents of the hat. He carefully reached in and pulled out the green and ice blue D-tector.

"How-?" he wondered to himself. He gazed at it, bewildered. He grabbed Tommy's hat and walked over to them.

"Where the heck did you find that?" exclaimed JP. Koichi looked up to meet their astonished and questioning faces.

"I-I don't know," he answered honestly. "I just found it in the hat."

"Hey, maybe you know magic!" suggested Zoe, patting his back.

"That was…oddly convenient, though," JP muttered. "You think it was someone trying to help us?"

"Maybe it was just destiny?" suggested Koichi.

"Who cares," Takuya stated. "What we need to do is get out of here before Ranamon tries and finds us, namely off the island."

"You sure?" asked Bokomon, looking wearily at the approaching clouds. "In such coming weather?"

"We can make it to the next island before the storm breaks, _if _we get moving," Takuya insisted. However the others didn't seem to content with the idea.

"I'd rather get out of here," Tommy voiced.

"We can't fight a storm, Takuya," Strabimon stated, stepping in front of Takuya.

"That's why we _have to _move quickly. If you guys aren't coming, then consider yourselves left behind."

"Hey, I thought this was democratic!" Zoe interrupted.

However, Takuya didn't listen. He ran off ahead in the direction where they had left their raft. Tommy was quick to run after him. JP and Koichi exchanged looks. "What a reckless idiot," sighed Zoe.

"I have to agree," JP nodded, though Koichi wondered whether it was in agreement for the sake of it or if he really thought that.

"I can't let him drown though," she muttered, running after him.

JP nodded. "He can be clueless."

"Uh, JP, she left already," Koichi said, pointing to her disappearing figure. JP made a face before he dragged Koichi along, leaving the boy a little dumbfounded. Bokomon soon followed suit with Neemon and Strabimon.

**Chapter 14: End.**

**To explain why he used "we" instead of "you all" is relative to his rhetoric strategy and it often can help to know what you're saying. Funny torture, no? It's better than the Chinese water torture. That'd take too long for them, in all honesty. XD Thank God Ranamon doesn't know how to do it. That'd drive me mentally insane…wait, I'm already insane.**


	16. Chapter 15: Tommy's Horror Story

**A/N: Thanks to Martiny the one and only still, darkhaseo90, madjack89, and Immortal Fallen Radiance for reviewing. Okay, this one is inspired by a mixture of episode 6 (Island of Misfit Boys), episode 28 (The Dark Heart of Friendship), and the fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel." Fun fact, as a kid, this story used to give me nightmares namely because of the canable witch. She scared the ever living crap out of me and now, I'm an avid watcher of horror and suspense movies/shows. Go figure.**

**Disclaimer: Whoever sends the lawyers here saying I'm owning something I don't, they'll be handed over to Ranamon so she can use Chinese water torture on them to figure out who sent them before I sick my good friend Duskmon on the people who called the lawyers. Why Duskmon? He has nothing better to do in this story so far.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 15: Tommy's Horror Story

The storm was far too furious. Takuya's hope of making it to the next island before the fated storm caught up to them was dashed as the rain pelted them from above and the winds screamed past them. The sea was restless, tossing the raft back and forth like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn. It was a miracle that the ever-shifting waters hadn't yet submerged the raft.

The crew tried holding on tightly to the rope that tied the logs together. The flash of lightning and clap of thunder went off above them, which was quickly followed by a scream from the oldest of the humans.

"What are you doing?" shouted Strabimon over the howling of the wind.

"I hate thunderstorms!" he answered, eyes squeezed shut and arms clamped around the main mast. From the makeshift barrels they had, Bokomon and Neemon peered out at him.

"But don't you command thunder?" asked Neemon quizzically.

"Well, ironic things pop up everywhere," Bokomon muttered to himself.

"JP! Come on! It'll be okay!" Zoe shouted, herself struggling with her own grip.

"Giant wave!" screamed Tommy, pointing to an approaching black and ominous wall of water.

"Everyone, hang on!" shouted Takuya, though it didn't need to be said as instinct forced them to grab anything they could to hang on, taking a deep breath, and squeezing their eyes shut. The wave crashed over them, deafening their ears of the sounds from above for a momentary calm before they surfaced, coughing and sputtering water.

"Everyone all right?" Takuya shouted. "Who's not onboard?"

"JP's missing!" Tommy informed, his voice hoarse and full of fear.

"And with this thunderstorm! Takuya, we shouldn't have left!" Zoe shouted.

"Guys!" Koichi cut in hastily. "Here comes another one!"

The wave crashed down upon them, once again, drowning their senses. Upon surfacing, Takuya did a call off; a lack of call from Tommy and Strabimon alerted him that the two were missing. As reckless as he dared not admit to, he knew enough to not jump into a raging ocean. All he could do was hold on and hope for the best.

X::::::::::X

The storm had passed a few hours later. Mercurymon, Koji, and Gazimon had been fortunate enough to not get rained on when they arrived via mirrors and tunnels. The two had met coincidently, and oddly enough, with the same mission. Both had been ordered to find Ranamon and keep tabs on her. She had been a day late with turning in any Fractal Code she was supposed to have seized.

The two were waiting by a fresh water stream, Koji and Mercurymon sitting across from each other on fallen palm trees that had been blown over during the storm. Despite only have been with the Warrior of Darkness, Mercurymon could sense a change in him.

Koji didn't seem so uptight. His posture was more relaxed and his mask less there. Even with the lack of mask, he didn't have anything to hide. His voice, eyes, and expression kept a consistent lack of caring and emotion. "Thou hath changed," noted Mercurymon, smirking towards the two. "Thou art not afraid of thine own Spirit? It tooketh thee long enough."

Koji didn't even give him a glance. "I was weak," he admitted with no sound of regret. "A heart is more cumbersome to carry than I used to think."

Mercurymon chortled. "Thou art still weak for thou hast not become whole."

"How so?" questioned Koji, glancing over now.

Gazimon snorted. "You may have allowed your heart to go but you still aren't any smarter," he commented from Koji's feet. "He means that we aren't the 'winged death'—or however the hell he wants to call us—all the time."

"My body's not used to it yet," Koji said and with that, the conversation was finished.

Gazimon stretched and yawned, obviously bored. He jumped up next to his partner and grumbled, "Where the heck is that chick? And why do we have to keep tabs on her?"

"Because Master Cherubimon said so," Koji answered.

Mercurymon chortled darkly to himself. He still had such blind faith in his master. Gazimon used to be the most faithful but now, Koji was giving him a run for his money. It would only be that much harder to take down Cherubimon in the end but Mercurymon was counting on it not getting that far.

Finally, Ranamon came running in. At the sight of the three, her face turned sour. "What are y'all doing here?" she questioned, half-curious half ready to blow them to kingdom come.

"We've been called here to check up on you," Gazimon grumbled. "It took you long enough, frog."

Ranamon stuck out her tongue out at him childishly, unable to think of a good comeback at the moment. "I'm doing just fine," she answered, finally turning away and folding her arms. "I have plenty of Fractal Code."

"Then why is this land still here?" Koji pointed out, waving a hand around him.

Ranamon's posture changed. Her hands automatically went down to her sides and became clenched in frustration.

"Thou hath not been working at all," Mercurymon mocked. "Thine's idea of work art one of leisure."

"Yeah, so?" Ranamon snapped, not turning around. She was red in the face; they all knew it. The Warrior of Water didn't need to turn around.

"I bet she hasn't even found her Beast Spirit," added Gazimon.

"I don't need it!" Ranamon turned around. The red tinge on her face had disappeared a little. "Why would some one so elegant and powerful as me need a Beast Spirit anyway?"

"Art thou truly the fairest of them all?"

"Wh-what?" Ranamon asked in shock. She stared at Mercurymon. Where was this tin can talking about?

Mercurymon smirked, knowing he had his a sore spot. "I just repeat what I've heard, milady," he said condescendingly. "If I heareth right-."

"You heard nothing, sugar!" screeched Ranamon, snapping. "I'll get that little brat of theirs and make him regret what he said!"

That's when Koji spoke up. "If you're going to hurt them, take what they value most."

Ranamon looked back at Koji, as if she was struck with an idea. "My, sugar, you're right. What is more important to them than that girl he mentioned? That blonde won't know what hit her!" With that, the Warrior of Water ran off, a look of a sadistic psychopath printed on her face as she thought of excruciating ways to get the blonde that would be her victim.

Gazimon looked at his partner. "You were talking about their friendship, right?" he inquired, thinking the blue Digimon had taken the interpretation the other way.

"It doesn't matter in the end," Koji answered, his eyes simply staring straight ahead. "Our mission is to get the Spirits, even if it means the death of those humans."

Gazimon smirked, eyes half closed. "That's the Spirit, partner."

Koji remained silent.

X::::::::::X

"_You think too much of yourself, Tommy. Try thinking for others and not yourself."_

_But I'm not…_

"_I'm sure you don't have any friends because all you can do is think of yourself!"_

_Yutaka! You're such a jerk!_

X::::::::::X

"Tommy!"

The youth felt someone shake him awake. He blinked and shielded his eyes from the bright sun.

"Are you okay?" asked the familiar voice of JP.

"Why are you crying?" inquired Strabimon, a little less concerned than the other.

The boy blinked and sat up before looking around. He saw that there was only JP and Strabimon around. "I'm all right," he answered before adding, "Where's Takuya, Zoe, and Koichi?"

JP frowned slightly, but like the boy could notice. "I haven't seen them," he answered. "We got separated during that storm. I'm sure by now they're at the next island."

Tommy frowned. "I guess we should find them soon," he said. Tommy patted his head. His giant orange hat was missing. He looked around for it but he couldn't see it. "JP, do you know where my hat is?" the boy asked.

JP, who had gotten up while the boy was looking around for his hat, turned back. "It must have gotten lost while you were pulled under the water or something," he answered. "You still have your D-tector?"

Tommy quickly checked his pocket and the said item was there. Tommy nodded to the older boy but then turned his mind back to his missing hat. He frowned. "JP, do you think we can try and find my hat?"

JP looked back at him. "I highly doubt it," he answered. "What's so special about the hat anyway?"

"Our main job is to go and find the others," added Strabimon, standing up. Tommy looked up at him, unmoving. Strabimon looked down at him. "Come on, get up."

"Can you help me?"

Strabimon's voice took on a tone of semi-annoyance. "Why can't you do it yourself? Are you a baby or something?"

Tommy paused. Those words...that phrase... "I'm not a baby," Tommy answered under his breath. The boy rose, biting his lip and holding back tears of bitterness. That's what his brother always called him. That's what those bullies always called him. Baby, baby, baby.

"That hat is special to me," Tommy answered, keeping his face turned towards the ground. It was a memento of happier times.

The reluctant confirmation of the task was breathed from the older boy. Tommy smiled and ran over to the Warrior of Thunder, hugging him and thanking over and over again.

Strabimon only watched on, eyes narrowed and head cocked, carefully studying the two boys reactions.

X::::::::::X

The look was mainly fruitless. Tommy sighed, resting against a tall tree. JP sighed, looking at his D-tector. The map on it indicated several dots. He frowned while studying it. At least they were on the island but _where_ were they exactly? _Too bad there isn't a communicator on this dang thing,_ he thought. _It came from our cell phones after all._

JP sighed disheartenly. _Heck, I don't think they even want me with them anyway._

"Wow! Cool!" shouted Tommy, jarring JP from his thoughts. The older boy looked at the boy and up to where he was pointing.

High in the branches, he thought he could see toys. Toys? They were growing off the tree like apples and cherries? "Gez, this place gets weirder and weirder," JP muttered before looking down at Tommy, who was looking at him with puppy dog eyes.

He wanted it. JP sighed. "We don't have time, though," he reminded the boy. "We gotta find them."

"It won't take too long!" Tommy insisted.

JP frowned. "Didn't you want to find your hat?" he asked.

"I'm sure we'll find it!" Tommy exclaimed.

JP looked back at the tree and back down at Tommy. He sighed. _Maybe…_ he thought. _Ah, screw it. _"Fine," JP gave in. "You stay here, okay?"

"All right!" promised Tommy, saluting like a soldier with a bright smile on his face. JP had to admit, it was adorable.

He Spirit Evolved into Beetlemon and went to retrieve the toy that Tommy had pointed out, leaving him with Strabimon.

X::::::::::X

Tommy couldn't help but hum to himself in pleasure. He had such kind friends. Maybe this would keep his mind side tracked from his worry for the others. He couldn't fly himself so he had asked JP. After all, Beetlemon could fly.

"Why did you do that?" Strabimon's calm but demanding voice pierced the boy's good mood.

"I just would have liked to have something that cool…" Tommy answered sincerely. Why was Strabimon asking?

"I can't tell who's worse, you or JP here," the dog muttered, shaking his head.

Tommy gave Strabimon a glare. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded.

"I mean you're selfish!" Strabimon answered, his voice rising in level. His bent over so that his face was level with that of the sitting boy and only an inch away from Tommy's face. "It's a wonder how the others can deal with it. Maybe your cuteness is what keeps them coming but it doesn't work on me. Eventually, it won't work on them, too."

Tommy was left speechless and startled. He couldn't come up with a retort. He was just paralyzed. This was just too much. He thought he had left his brother's cynical words behind. He, however, was wrong. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"_You're just selfish. I doubt you have any friends."_

"SHUT UP, YUTAKA!" he screamed. All he wanted to do was run and escape and that's what he did. Tommy ran. He ran as fast as his legs to carrying him. Away from Strabimon, away from his harsh message, and away from the reminder of his brother, he just wanted to escape it all.

However, no matter the distance he put between himself and the others, the words still chased after him. They still stung and cut him like a knife. Tears welled up in his eyes and he screamed from frustration. He let it all out, pouring all his resurfacing anger and bitterness into his tears that seemed to never stop flowing.

He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and stared at the glistening salty water that was rubbed onto his hand. Tommy's sobs fell to silence. He promised himself that he would stop being a coward back when he got his Spirit. He wanted to help and he did. He sniffed, using his other hand to wipe away his other trail of tears.

_I don't want to cry like this,_ he thought to himself. _Crying is what the bullies want to get…I hate this!_

"_What a crybaby." _Old taunts echoed in his mind. _"Go crying to mama, crybaby!"_

"I am not," the boy denied bitterly.

"_You're just selfish, Tommy," Yutaka stated with a cold edge._

"I'm not!" That's right! He'd show them wrong! He wasn't selfish and he isn't a crybaby! He was Tommy, the Legendary Warrior of Ice!

Tommy forced a smile, one with brimming confidence. He wouldn't let what they say get him down. Tommy just nodded to his childish idea. They were wrong and he'd prove it: starting from this day on.

The boy turned towards a rustling from the brush to see a teddy bear that had been patched together by a mad scientist. Sharp stuffing popped out of its seams and a cord was connected to where his mouth would had been and a heart shaped patch on his left side.

"My," it said in a raspy voice, fairly surprised. "What is a human boy doing here?"

Tommy didn't like the look of the Digimon; it gave him the chills. His hand hovered next to his pocket where his D-tector rested. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice wavering on caution and a threat. "I'm a Legendary Warrior!"

The bear chortled. "I am Porcupamon," it answered, bemused by the boy's threat. "How can someone of your stature be a Legendary Warrior? But, I cause you no harm." The bear pulled something out from behind him. "This hat, is it yours?"

Tommy stared wide-eyed at the orange hat that rested in Porcupamon's hands. "How did you-?" he began. He dropped his guard. Maybe this Digimon wasn't so bad.

"I see," he mused. Porcupamon offered the boy his hat. "Well, here. This belongs to you so there's no more reason for me holding onto it."

Tommy made a face. _Maybe Porcupamon isn't so bad? He does look scary but…maybe I should be careful? The Toucanmon were kind but they still kidnapped me…_ The boy nodded, deciding caution was the best idea…well at least for the moment. He stepped forwards and reached for his hat. "Thanks."

Everything seemed all right but the ease had been cut short. Rustling from the brush came from behind him and he looked back to see Strabimon and JP running towards him. That was the wrong move.

With the distraction the Porcupamon grabbed him and raced off. Tommy watched as the faces of his friends before they disappeared as he was carried off into the brush. "HELP!" he cried.

The boy wiggled, trying to get out of it's grip but he eventually had to stop as sharp needles poked at him from under the leather as he kept shifting. He then tried to reach his D-tector but it was out of his reach. Then Tommy tried to grasp for something that could maybe help but ended up dropping his hat. Tommy tried to grab it but it was out of his reach and it fell to the ground and disappeared as the Digimon continued rushing away.

X::::::::::X

It was no use. JP came to a stop, huffing. The Digimon and Tommy were gone. There was no way they could catch up, as they didn't know where they disappeared to. JP glared at Strabimon.

"What did you do to him that made him run off?" he demanded between gasps.

"I told him what was on my mind," Strabimon answered but wasn't allowed to continue as JP cut him off.

"Oh, for crying out loud! You are such an idiot!" he shouted. "I thought you had changed a tiny bit but you just can't help but need to put people down."

Strabimon's ears flattened against his head. "I didn't mean for him to run _off_. I wasn't trying to be mean," he argued.

"I don't know if I believe that myself," JP retorted. "Because of you, Tommy's gone again!"

"It isn't entirely my fault that he has a target painted on his back that says 'kidnap me,'" Strabimon muttered, turning away and continuing on.

"Where do you think you're going?" JP shouted after him.

Strabimon stopped and looked back at the boy in blue. "I'm finding him. Annoying as he can be, he's apart of the team. Besides, it will keep Takuya and the others from yelling at me because _we_ lost him."

This left JP speechless. Maybe he was being a little too harsh on Strabimon himself. Maybe he had changed…at least just a little. The boy sighed, letting the subject drop. He picked himself up off the ground and went after the Digimon. Right now, Tommy was more important than their arguing.

And they kept going until they found an orange hat laying in a clearing. JP went over and picked it up. It was Tommy's and he had seen the Porcupamon trying to hand it to him.

"At least we know which way the came from," he said.

"Yeah but which way did they go?" Strabimon replied, cutting the enthusiasm.

An idea came to JP. He looked up at Strabimon. "You have a good sense of smell?" he asked.

Strabimon gave him a confused look and JP explained his trail of thought. "Well, you look like a wolf which is a canine and dogs are used to sniff people and things out by the police and used for hunting…so, I was thinking it'd work with Digimon," JP explained. Strabimon was a little confused with the concepts of police and what JP meant by "things" but he understood the main idea. Well, what could it hurt? Garurumon and Sangloupmon were known for being great trackers.

Strabimon took the hat from JP and sniffed it. He smelled two scents but he wasn't too sure which one belonged to Tommy and which one belonged to Porcupamon. At least it was something he could follow. He sniffed the air before bending down and sniffing the ground (which felt rather embarrassing). He then looked up and pointed in which direction the scent went. JP nodded and Spirit Evolved into Beetlemon, just in case they were going to have to fight.

Then the two went off, following the scent.

X::::::::::X

Tommy was thrown into a cell that was dark except for a small window that let in a stream of light that fell to the floor. Porcupamon walked in behind him, seemingly looking for something. Tommy looked up to see the giant bear Digimon reach for something…or someone.

"Please! Please put me down!" a voice pleaded desperately, as if it was scared. He couldn't tell whom the voice belonged to but it was enough to send chills down his spine. Something bad was going to happen. Something _really bad_. The voice was cut off when Porcupamon exited the room and the bang of a thick door echoed through the cell.

Tommy gulped. Were others here as well? "Hello?" he called out.

"Well, another ingredient has been added to the soup it looks like," a caustic voice said from the darkness.

"Ingredient?" Tommy repeated. The boy's eyes adjusted, making out the shapes of various small and round Digimon. "Is he going to eat us?"

"What else do you think?" said a second voice.

Tommy rose. "We're all ingredients?" he asked. "Was…that Digimon being taken…g-going to be eaten?"

A small Digimon bounced into the light. He recognized that it was a Pagumon. The boy grimaced, remembering the first day of being in the Digital World. "Precisely," it answered.

Tommy gulped. "Haven't you tried to get out?"

"We're all In-training Digimon here," answered the Pagumon. "We can't bust through the bars and the floor is solid stone and none of us have claws. We're as good as toast, as are you, bucko." More Digimon entered the light. All of them were small and round. Even if they came in various colors and forms, they were too small to seem like they could do anything.

Tommy breathed out a heavy breath. What kind of Digimon would eat others like this? The boy pushed the eerie thoughts out of his mind and decided that there was something far more important that he needed to figure out: There had to be a way out.

Tommy busied himself with examining the room. All in all, he couldn't find anything besides the door that only opened one way. The room was solid. There were no cracks and there were no trap doors. The ceiling was far above his head so there was no way out above and like the Pagumon had said, there was solid floor below him so there was no way they could dig out. The boy sat against the wall disheartenly.

"Just give it up," the Pagumon stated, bored already. "We're all screwed so there's no need to try and get out of here."

"Maybe I could fight him?" Tommy offered, standing up.

"Yeah, I'm sure you could," it mocked right back.

"We're good as eaten," sniffed a Wanyamon.

Tommy bit his lip. No, there had to be a way. He just needed to find…

Tommy's eyes wandered over to the window and then he got an idea. He ran over to the window and examined it. The frame looked big enough that he could squeeze himself through if the bars were taken away. Tommy backed away from the cell window. He reached into his pocket for his D-tector and pulled it out and Spirit Evolved into Kumamon.

The other Digimon gasped. However, the Pagumon's voice remained unimpressed. "What're ya going to do?" he asked. "Freeze the bars?"

"Not a bad idea," Kumamon mused. He did remember watching a movie with his brother explained that super cooling metal would make it easy to break and—after all—freezing things were his speciality. He took a deep breath and let it out. The chilling wind caked the bars with frost. Kumamon took out his snowball launcher and used it to smash the bars.

He smiled to himself. Could a crybaby do that?

He ran over to the window and pulled himself up.

"Hey, hey! Are you just going to leave us?" he heard one of the young Digimon call to him. Kumamon looked back. If he left, they'd be eaten. They were so small that they couldn't fend for themselves, not against the Porcupamon.

He beckoned them to come over. "Hurry!" he said. The small Digimon gave him looks of gratitude before they raced over to him. One at a time, he picked them up and placed them on the frame, where they dropped to the ground outside. It was slow going and he didn't know how many there were but he just kept chugging away, unwilling to leave any behind.

"Is that everybody?" he asked after a while.

"Almost," Pagumon said, looking down shamefully. "There's me and Wanyamon left."

"Well, let's hurry then!" Kumamon began reaching for the two but stopped, hearing the noise of footsteps and the turning of a lock. He froze. Porcupamon was close. He quickly grabbed Wanyamon and placed him on the window.

Kumamon quickly scooped up the Pagumon and went for the window just as the door opened. He placed Pagumon, Just as he tried climbing up onto the windowsill, something grabbed him and flung him back with a terrible shriek. Tommy landed on the floor, stunned and weary. He looked up to see Porcupamon's features obscuring the light. Kumamon got up.

"You let my meal escape," it hissed, striking a fighting stance, claws bared. "I'll enjoy cutting you up to a slow death and eating your data."

Kumamon felt a shiver run down his spine. Fear nearly took hold but he remembered that the bear would have to catch him first. He rose and was ready to fight.

"Posion Bubbles!" Porcupamon flinched. The Warrior of Ice watched in amazement as Pagumon jumped on the Porcupamon's head and then towards the polar bear Digimon.

"Pagumon! What are you doing?" he exclaimed.

"I can't leave you behind," he answered. "You helped me and I think it's my turn as well."

Kumamon smiled and picked up the Digimon and headed for the open door, arriving in a kitchen. He raced towards a window but something hit him on the back of the head, knocking him to the floor. His vision became blurry and before he knew it, he was hanging upside down by his feet. His vision clearly registered the face. His eyes widened in fear. His heart pounded in his ears. He began to hyperventilate. A claw rose.

No, no! No! No! Tears stung his eyes. Was this the end?

"BUCKO!" Tommy felt his foot being let go. He landed in a heap. Kumamon scrambled away. He only dared look back and he automatically regretted it. He watched in horror. Pagumon had bitten the giant mutant bear's arm and was being waved around.

"Stupid runt," snarled the Porcupamon. Claws glistened and came slashing down. There was no sound. Just the glow of Fractal Code before it disappeared. Then an Egg was left. With another movement, the egg too was sliced in half, disappearing in a shower of sparks. Anything that would have been Pagumon was gone.

Tommy was just frozen in shock and horror. This was something out of a horror movie. For a minute, he didn't know what he was feeling. Fear. Anger. Sadness. Grief. Fear. Anger. Sadness. Fear. Anger. Sadness. Fear. Anger. Fear.

Then…

"PAGUMON!" he screamed. His body moved on its own accord. He didn't feel in control. Swipes, jabs, he just sidestepped them. Whatever slashed at him, he ignored. His body felt numb. Kumamon backed up. He jumped into the air and turned into an icicle. He fell onto Porcupamon's head, a clean hit.

The Fractal Code spun around the silhouette. Kumamon pulled out his D-tector, still acting on instinct. He scanned the data that left behind a white egg that flew off.

Kumamon felt hollow. His mind was empty save for the incident that had played before him. He left the kitchen area and he found himself outside. He heard the distant sounds of his name. Voices that he barely recognized until they were right on top of him.

"Tommy!" shouted JP and Strabimon.

"He doesn't look to good," Strabimon said.

Then, Tommy just broke down, screaming and sobbing uncontrollably. He felt grateful. All so grateful. He gripped whoever had rested a hand on him. Tommy just cried.

JP watched as Strabimon was forced to comfort the boy. He made an attempt to but the boy shied away. "I want Takuya," he sobbed.

JP backed up a step. He bit his lip. "Yeah, let's go." He turned towards the small Digimon, deciding that it would be a good idea to figure out just _exactly _had happened. The small In-Training Digimon had led them to where the small hut. However, he wasn't ready for the gruesome tale that had unfolded.

**Chapter 15: End.**

**Dear God, Tommy has a knack for getting kidnapped just as Koichi does for falling and me for getting ran into. Poor Tommy, ne? He's a target for near death experiences. My original idea wasn't supposed to be **_**this**_** dark but that's just how it ended up. Thank god I put this as rated T because this would scar any little kid that read it. And now, Tommy is **_**really **_**scared for life. :(**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one. So sorry that it was late. Next chapter may hopefully be on time.**


	17. Chapter 16: Hello My Ghosts

**A/N: Thank you Kimiko Heroux, Starowner, Navaka114, Immortal Fallen Radiance, and Martiny the one and only still for reviewing. :) I'm glad you guys are enjoying. Here's the update. ^_^**

**Disclaimer: I won't ever own Digimon. Never, ever, ever. Oh, and I don't own it now.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 16: Hello My Ghosts

The ship finally docked on land after a few hours of being tossed around. Upon landing, Takuya proceeded to try and fiddle around with his D-tector in hopes of finding _something _on it that could alert him if Tommy, JP, and Strabimon were nearby. In fact, he did find a map that showed several differently colored dots. He sighed with relief.

"There somewhere nearby!" he shouted over to the other two.

"That's great!" Zoe cheered.

"If only we had some way to contact them," Koichi stated, drawing out his D-tector.

Takuya sat down, exhausted. He sighed, contently. At least they weren't drowned out at sea…but the three could be easily attacked at any moment. They needed to find them fast.

Takuya forced himself up. "Let's get going!" he shouted to the others.

"But shouldn't we rest?" Koichi asked.

"We do and we lose our head start. Besides, we gotta find Tommy," Takuya said.

"Then what about Strabimon and JP?" put in Zoe, folding her arms. "They're part of the team too."

Takuya waved off her statement and ran off. She sighed to herself. He was right to be worried about Tommy, as he was younger than the rest of them and they were responsible for him, but JP and Strabimon were also part of the team and it would be just as bad if they lost either of them. Zoe frowned to herself before shaking it out of her mind. There were other things that they needed to worry about anyway.

The two humans ran after him with the two tired Digimon trailing after them.

X:::::::::X

Their trip had been put on hold for a short moment, as Ranamon came in, ready to fight. Despite having a reluctant Koichi hide with the two other Digimon, Agunimon and Kazemon were having an easy time fighting her. All she could do was create a cloud of water or set a haze on them. However, only one she could maintain at a time and so she was left wide open for an attack.

After a few times, Ranamon was forced to take a defensive. "Is this how a Warrior should fight?" Kazemon mocked, landing a kick on the blue female.

"I'm just getting warmed up, you winged poser!" snarled Ranamon, getting up. She summoned a rain cloud that formed above Kazemon's head, causing her to crash to the ground from the rain that fell down.

"That's how a Warrior really does it," Ranamon said triumphantly. "Not looking so pretty now, do ya sug—!" Her sentence was cut off as a roundhouse kick nailed her from the behind.

"Maybe you shouldn't monologue," Agunimon stated from above her. Ranamon snarled again. Seeing that she was being over powered, she decided it was a good idea to tuck tail and run…for now anyway. She summoned an acid haze and then ran off. Fortunately, with Kazemon's butterfly wings wet, she couldn't be pursued easily.

Once a good distance away, Ranamon grumbled to herself. "Oh, maybe that tin-head is right," she muttered, folding her arms. "I might as well be a splash of ocean water for all the damage I can do out on the battle field."

"Oh, my dear, even a drop of water can cause a tsunami," a raspy voice said. Ranamon spun around, startled and was face-to-face with a Witchmon.

Ranamon made a noise. "It's best not to startle the fabulous Warrior of Water," she warned.

Witchmon cackled in amusement. "And what is a Warrior such as yourself doing here?" asked the witch.

"That's none of your business now, sugar," she stated. "I'm on an important mission crushing my enemies."

Witchmon twirled her broom in her hands. "And it seems that you can't take them all at once," she noted.

Ranamon flushed. "Yeah, well, they just got lucky."

"Lucky or not, you are looking for your Beast Spirit," Witchmon reminded her.

"And how do you know that?"

"You said so yourself."

"R-right. But what does it mean to an old wart like you?"

Witchmon cackled again. "Maybe I can cut you a break."

"Really?" Ranamon questioned skeptically. Witchmon didn't answer and just began walking off. Ranamon growled slightly to herself but followed anyway.

X:::::::::X

The five continued walking in silence. The sun at the moment was starting to lower in the sky. Zoe trailed behind Takuya and Koichi with Bokomon and Neemon. She sighed. Takuya was a stubborn one, all right. She had suggested that they take a break (her exact words being "a five minute break") but he had turned it down in favor of hopefully intercepting their comrades in order to make up for the time they had lost while battling Ranamon.

The Italian sighed again. She had to admit, she slightly admired his stubbornness and dedication to the team but it didn't hurt to take a short break. Heck, she would have been sure that, a little over two weeks ago, he would have willingly taken a break. Maybe the fight back in the Crystal Castle had some sort of effect on him.

Who was she kidding? It affected all of them. Things were serious. _Cherubimon's goons_ were serious. In turn, they had to be serious as well.

"_Oh, but you were never serious."_

Zoe stopped dead in her tracks and looked around. Who had said that? "Koichi, what do you mean that I'm never serious?" she asked, her voice edging towards being demanding.

Koichi stopped and turned towards her. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I didn't say anything."

Zoe furrowed her brows. "Hm. Then did you hear someone say something?" she asked. The dark haired boy shook his head. She asked the same thing of the two Digimon, who gave her the same answer.

Takuya went over to them, wondering what the hold up was. Zoe waved it off, deciding that her mind was playing tricks on her. With that, they continued on.

"_Oh, ignoring me, hm? What a _friend_."_

"All right, who's there?" Zoe shouted, turning around. "This is getting annoying! If it's Ranamon, how about you show yourself!"

There was no answer. Heck, there wasn't anyone around to even say anything behind her.

"What are you yelling at?" Bokomon asked, looking back.

"Again?" Takuya asked, running back with Koichi. The boy's tone and face were identical in portraying his annoyance.

"I-I thought I heard something," Zoe insisted. "I could have sworn I heard something!"

"The heat's probably gotten to her," Bokomon suggested.

"Maybe she's hearing a ghost!" Neemon piped up. This was retaliated with a smart whack from Bokomon.

"I think it'd be a good idea if we rest," Koichi said. "Maybe you're hearing things because you're tired, Zoe?"

Zoe tilted her head with an unsure look. "Maybe I am," she agreed. She however wasn't so certain that she was tired, though it would make sense. She had been clinging for a few hours to a raft during a storm and then was forced to walk for an hour or two.

Takuya looked between the two and then reluctantly gave in. "Fine."

They decided to get off the trail they were taking and took shelter in an area sheltered by some brush. The leaves allowed them to look out but not be seen easily and it was big enough for them to all get in and has room to lay down.

"_And you were saying about resting?"_

Zoe's head shot up but she forced her head down. _It's only a figment of my imagination. I'm just really tired. If I go to sleep, then it'll go away._

"_Oh, what am I now? An imaginary person? Am I really a fake then? You're so predictable, just like the girls you tried to be better than."_

Zoe did her best to ignore the voice but it was becoming so hauntingly familiar. She pulled off her hat and clutched it in her hands. "[Go away, go away, go away,]" she half whispered, half whimpered.

"Zoe, what's wrong?"

"_I'm sure you'd want me to go away. Hell, maybe never to exist. You just can't _bare _what you said to me."_

Tears started to well up in her eyes. "No," she answered, unconscious to the fact that she was saying it loud enough for the others to hear her. "I don't even know who you are."

"_I'm insulted. I tried to help but you just pushed me away and you don't even have the decency to remember me."_

The memory hit her. _"Look, I don't want help," she said angrily to the brown haired girl._

"I'm sorry, Nazu," she whimpered, sobs running down her face.

"_You finally remember my name."_

"I'm sorry!"

"_Don't you think it's a little late for that, Orimoto?"_

"I'm sorry…"

"Zoe!" a voice called for her. The blond didn't look up and was wrenched from her curled position and was staring into hard and concerned brown eyes. They quickly soften. Her lower lip trembled and her breath was shaky. "It's okay," Takuya's voice said, comfortingly.

A hand rested on her back. Her head spun quickly, kicking up her blond hair and she was greeted by a comforting smile from Koichi. "Nothing here can hurt you," he added.

Tears rushed down her cheeks and then, she noticed that she was crying. She squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed both boys by the necks with her arms and drew them into a hug. They were real. Their kindness was real. They were there. The voice had no body. It couldn't hurt her. She denied that the voice could hurt, shutting out the wounds that the words had cut into her.

"Thank you, both of you. Grazie infinite," she whispered. "Grazie mille."

"N…no problem," Takuya answered, slightly uncomfortable under the hug.

"We're your friends, Zoe," Koichi answered. "That's what we're meant for, right?"

Zoe pulled away. "Yeah," she answered, her head bowed.

The two boys looked at each other, unsure what to do next. Koichi then nudged Takuya, nodding over to her. Takuya shrugged. He didn't know what to do. He never really comforted a girl before. He knew it was at least different between his younger brother and surrogate brother and the blond. He guessed Koichi didn't know what to do either.

Then he did the first thing that came to mind. He pulled off his hat and placed it on the girl's head, startling her. "Here," he said.

The Warrior of Wind looked at the embarrassed Warrior of Flame. He was looking away. She just smiled. "Grazie," she repeated.

"N-no problem," he answered. He abruptly got up. "I'll…uh…start guard duty. I'll leave you alone so you can sleep…ya know just in case Cherubimon's goons show up."

"Ah, I'll join you then," Koichi offered, rising with him. The two left and returned to the edge of the trail.

"What was that for?" Takuya asked, looking at the dark haired boy.

Koichi narrowed his eyes, studying the still embarrassed boy. "Are you blushing?" he asked.

The goggle-boy was taken aback. "N-no!" he stammered. "It's just hot here."

"Right," Koichi said, a teasing tone inching into his voice. He made sure to turn his attention down the track.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Takuya demanded. However, Koichi didn't respond. For a while, they lapsed into silence. "Do you think that the voice she was hearing was all in her head?" asked Takuya.

Koichi shrugged. "I don't think so," he answered. "She seemed so affected by what it said that I don't think that she's hallucinating."

"Then what do you think it is? A ghost or something?"

"I don't know. Maybe something like the Bakumon spell?"

"Haven't gotten any freaky feelings. Besides, that spell made you and Tommy go crazy."

"Wait, I was hit by it? Did I do anything to hurt any of you?" Koichi looked at him earnestly.

"No. All you really did was scream 'Notice me.'" Takuya paused. "What did you mean by that anyway?"

Koichi hesitated for a second. "Probably the spell," he answered, giving him a forced smile. "Maybe it was the spell that made me loopy."

Takuya wasn't so sure about that. "You positive?" he pressed.

"Yeah," Koichi insisted. "Like you said, it made Tommy and I go crazy."

With that, Takuya relented, deciding not to press on. He felt slightly hurt that Koichi was keeping something from him; they were friends after all. "Well," he finally said, "if you ever want to talk, you know you can speak to any of us—me, JP, Zoe, Tommy, or heck, even Strabimon. We're all friends, after all."

Koichi smiled at him. "I'm all right. Don't worry about me."

Takuya frowned. "All right," he said. Of course, he wouldn't follow through with that.

Things seemed to go quietly for quite a while. Then, there was a high-pitched scream. The two boys jumped to their feet and raced towards the source: Zoe. She was tossing and turning, tears streaming down her eyes.

A nightmare. Both boys shook her awake and once she calmed down a little but she was still in hysterics. "She won't get out of my head," the blond sobbed.

"Who? Who's in your head?" Koichi asked.

The girl froze, horrified. Her eyes were fixated on something behind them. "Behind you!" she whimpered.

Takuya took a glance back. He was getting sick of this. This wasn't because she was tired. Someone was playing a trick on her, a damn dirty trick. He grabbed the Warrior of Wind by the shoulders and shook her. "Zoe, nothing's there," he stated. "No one's here but us."

Koichi looked towards Bokomon. "Are there illnesses or anything that could cause hallucinations?" he asked.

"The only one I can think of is crazy," Bokomon muttered sleepily. He was quickly silenced by a glare from Takuya.

"Can you please look," Koichi asked, a little more politely than his friend.

"My, my," a heavily accented voice said, bemusedly. "What do we have here? Three Warriors that are sitting ducks. My, what luck I have."

The five had no time to move before they were flushed out of the brush by a heavy flood of water from above. Soaked to the bone, the two boys stood protectively around their friend. "Ranamon," they both murmured in disgust.

"Well, I'll be. You remembered my name only after the second meeting," she said, feigning gratefulness.

"Cut the crap, Ranamon!" Takuya shouted, pulling out his D-tector. "You have the absolute worst timing!"

"No, my timing is perfect," she smirked. "Seems like blond-cakes isn't looking so well." She then gave them mocking concern. "Is she sick?"

"Just shut up and fight! Spirit Evolution!"

"My, my, feisty, aren't we?" Ranamon chortled. "I'll enjoy this."

The blue Digimon easily ducked from a punch directed at her. She kept flipping out of the way and sending showers down on Agunimon. Not being able to double-team with anyone, the Warrior of Water had the advantage.

Koichi began helping Zoe up, supporting her as she rambled on to herself. Her gaze then suddenly shifted towards the battlefield. "No," she said, as if desperately denying an accusation. "I can help! I-I swear I'm different…" With that, she drew away from Koichi and Spirit Evolved into Kazemon and flew off to help, despite Koichi calling for her to wait.

He didn't run after her, as he'd just be more of a liability than anything if he even dared think of running in and helping. So all he did was watch.

Things actually went pretty well. Kazemon was able to get a clean hit on Ranamon, who at the moment was distracted by summoning rain clouds to hinder Agunimon. She kept the punches coming but Ranamon was able to predict them, as Kazemon herself was distracted.

"No, I'm not weak," Kazemon insisted.

Ranamon used this to her advantage. "Of course you are," she said. "It's all your fault, after all. You're ugly inside and out."

"No…" Kazemon hesitated and it was all Ranamon needed. Ranamon summoned an acidy haze, burning the fairy Digimon's skin. She screamed and drew back. A rain cloud appeared above her but the emotionally rattled Warrior didn't make any movement to escape and was pounded by the water.

Ranamon cackled in pleasure. "This is so easy. With that spell that the Witchmon casted…" she cut herself off. "Whoopies."

Agunimon and Koichi glared at her.

"A spell?" Bokomon gasped. "From a Witchmon?"

"That's a low trick," Koichi shouted, angrily.

"And for that, you'll pay," added Agunimon. His gauntlets flared. He ran forwards and began a roundhouse kick, flames dancing around him. If Ranamon hadn't ducked, that would have been the end. She rolled to her feet a safe distance away from the heat, sweaty and fearful.

"Well," Ranamon began. "Gotta run, sugar!" With that, she ran off.

"Get back here!" shouted Agunimon, running after her.

"Zoe!" he heard Koichi and Bokomon gasp. The Warrior of Flame stopped where he was and looked back to see his comrade laying face down in the path, completely de-evolved in her human form. Koichi and Bokomon were kneeling next to her, and shaking her awake.

The Warrior of Flame raced over, forgetting about the chase. "Is she all right?" he asked hurriedly.

"I-I think she's unconscious," Koichi explained, worriedly.

"A spell from a Witchmon is never a good thing," Bokomon said, as if he was just remembering something. "Why hadn't it come to mind before?" He flipped open a book and read aloud from it: "'Witchmon are amazing spell casters. Many use water and wind based magic and often are bitter rivals with Wizardmon.' Farther in, the book mentions illusion magic that tears at the inner subconscious of anyone who has fallen under the spell. It often messes with Fractal Code depending on the visions they see. I'm guessing Zoe's must have been _very_ bad."

"How often do they normally last?" Koichi asked.

"Days, I'd guess," Bokomon stated. "But Zoe started hearing the voices hours ago… The spell must be attacking her weakest point."

"This Nazu person?" Agunimon muttered, remembering the blond had mumbled the name. He knelt down next to Zoe's body. "Is there anyway we can reverse it?"

Bokomon looked over the page quickly and then closed the book. "There are a few ways: one is if we get Witchmon to reverse it—fat chance of that happening—, seeing if Zoe herself can overcome the spell and what's plaguing her, or finding another spell casting Digimon who can reverse it."

Takuya gritted his teeth. "We'll just have to find this Witchmon or whatever spell caster we can find." He picked up the girl and rose.

"We better hurry then," Koichi said. "I'm thinking she's starting to get a fever…"

"But we have no idea where we can find the Witchmon or any other—!" Bokomon began but a sudden boom and pillar of light interrupted them.

"What was that?"

"Trouble or help."

**Chapter 16: End.**

**God, while writing the part after the Ranamon thing, I felt like I was starting to tear up. That a good thing? D: And, yeah, I threw Nazu in there because I thought it would be rather funny to see how you guys react to it. XD (coughhinttosomethingmorecough) This'll be more explained next chapter. ^^; For those of you who don't know who Nazu is, basically she's an OC of mine from the _Somebody's Hero _continuim. I've changed her a bit to fit this (originally, Nazu and Zoe didn't know each other at all until they met at Shibuya station in the first chapter of DFSB). Rin's an OC too as is Chiyoko. Rin has been in a few of my stories and she's mostly been an antagonist and Chiyoko was a character from one or two chapters of _Games of Spirits_…yeah. XD I recycle my OCs…a lot.**

**Oh, and yes, I looked up "thank you very much" in Italian and both that you see came up. Pfft. I love writing this chapter for various reasons: Takuya's reactions and just writing Zoe's turmoil. I'm such a sadistic brat, aren't I? :(**

**Hope you enjoyed it! (gets ready to duck from rotten tomatoes)**


	18. Chapter 17: Enemy, Familiar Friend

**A/N: Thank you Martiny, Kimiko Heroux, darkhaseo90, Immortal Fallen Radiance, madjack89, and Starowner for reviewing. ^-^ Please note the things in Italic are Zoe's flashback. Oh, have fun figuring out what Zoe said in Italian there. 8) Her mom would wash her mouth out with soap. Please note it's jumping back and forth between Zoe's dream and reality. Title was heavily inspired by the first line from "Nothing and Everything" by Red. (I kid you not, the VERY first line!) I feel it fits and we all know whom the familiar friend/enemy is. And, not end author's notes...because I don't know what else to say this time. ^-^; Yay flashback chapter?**

**Disclaimer: We all know I own nothing. Plain as day after all…unless you're asleep or blind (no offence) or trapped in a dark room with no windows.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 17: Enemy, Familiar Friend

_Zoe didn't know where she was…at first. Then the familiar sounds of laughter told her that she was in class. The scene melted into existence around her. It was a brightly painted room and the windows were wide open; her teacher's room had been specially matched with his peppy and optimistic personality. Zoe had always liked the room._

_The occupants, however, were a whole different story._

_A majority of her classmates had been open to her but she had put them off when she greeted them wrong or acted out of the norm. She often messed up on many customs like switching her shoes for slippers or offering her hand instead of bowing. Other times, she broke out into Italian, freaking several of the other girls and boys out._

_Then voices came into focus and she could hear what her teacher was saying. "This Friday, before our last week of school before summer, is when the annual camping trip is. Be prepared for three days of wilderness fun!"_

_With this, Zoe cocked her head curiously. At that time, she didn't know it was done quite so often. She had gone to a private school in Italy and so school camping trips was a strange concept for her. Zoe raised her hand. "Do all schools do this?" she asked._

"_Of course," the teacher answered, brightly. "Well, the ones that I worked at, I know for sure have."_

_The class giggled. "Didn't they do that in Italy?" asked a girl with silky black hair. Chiyoko, that was her name, gave her a side-glance and smirked._

"_I guess they are more sheltered than us," added a blonde haired girl with black eyes. Rin too smirked at the Italian._

"_Shut up, Rin," stated a brown haired and green-eyed girl next to Zoe. Zoe looked over at the girl, Nazu, who was glaring at Rin. From what little, Zoe could collect was that Rin and Nazu didn't get along at all. It was like watching a cat and dog go at each other._

"_Class!" the teacher called before his class went into a frenzy as an argument would start. "Do it again, Mrs. Fukufuya and Mrs. Karasuhebi, and you'll both be sent into the hall."_

"_Right, teacher," answered the blond._

_Nazu however didn't reply and just sat quietly. Zoe looked over at Rin._ What a stronzoa.

_Zoe didn't know why those two always butted heads. She had never asked nor even thought about it. At the time, she was too busy fighting her own battles._

X:::::::::X

Agunimon carrying the unconscious Zoe was ahead of Koichi, Bokomon, and Neemon. The sight of where the light had come from was in sight and drawing closer and closer. With a closer look, it was as if there was no house anywhere. At first, he almost missed the house that was built into a small hill, with a window and a sheet over the door being the only indication that it could have been inhabited by anyone.

Before the house, a wizard-themed Digimon wearing red garbs and hat was busy with a giant bonfire that was sparking off various colors. "Hey!" Agunimon shouted, trying to get the Digimon's attention.

The red wizard turned, alarmed. He quickly picked up a giant match from the ground next to him and held it tightly, summoning blue fireballs around him. "What do you want?" he demanded. "If you're apart of Cherubimon's army, I won't allow you to take this island! I'll die before I let you lay your hands on the Fractal Code!"

"No," Agunimon denied, huffing and holding out his friend. "We need your help. It's our friend, she's sick!"

The wizard looked at the girl skeptically. Agunimon pressed, "She needs help!"

At this point, Koichi, Bokomon, and Neemon caught up. All three were bent over, breathing heavily from their jaunt to catch up with the Warrior of Flame. "She's under a spell," Koichi said.

"A Witchmon illusion spell!" added Bokomon from his laying position. "And it looks like it's really bad."

The wizard looked them all over, still not getting out of his defensive position. It didn't look like he was willing to accept their story. Then the clunk of wood broke the silence. The group looked over to see JP, Tommy, and Strabimon staring wide-eyed at them.

"Takuya!" shouted Tommy, running over and hugging Agunimon. "Koichi!" The other two followed.

"When did you guys get here?" asked Koichi to Strabimon.

"Just an hour ago," the wolf Digimon answered.

"Never mind that; what happened to Zoe?" JP demanded, rushing to check the Warrior of Wind out, concern filling his eyes.

"You know them?" asked the wizard.

"Yeah," answered Strabimon, as the other two boys were busy getting filled in on what had happened. "These guys would die before joining Cherubimon."

With that, the Digimon dropped his guard and ran to them. He quickly directed the Hybrid into the dugout. He introduced himself as FlameWizardmon, the keeper of the island that they were on. Agunimon placed her on the only bed that was cleaned off of. Any other pieces of furniture were filled with books and whatnot. JP raced to grab something that could be cool to place on her forehead in what he thought was a kitchen area.

"So, what are the symptoms?" FlameWizardmon asked quickly, standing before a bookshelf filled from the floor to the ceiling a good few feet above the humans. "When was the first time the symptoms coming on? How quickly did it get to this point?"

"Well, she has a fever…" Koichi stated. "Uh, that help any?"

FlameWizardmon looked back at him. "That's too vague. What kind of illusion was she under? What happened? What did she claim under her hallucinations?"

"A voice," Takuya answered quickly. Next to him, JP sat and watched on with concern. "She also was having nightmares."

"It actually all started a few hours ago," Bokomon thought aloud. "She didn't collapse until the battle with Ranamon…" Bokomon turned to the girl who gave a groan. "Poor dear."

X:::::::::X

_The teacher had decided the groups with suggestions from his students. Zoe hadn't been able to think of anyone she'd been happy with being in a group with. She batted around ideas but she ended up putting down only one or two names that she knew didn't talk about her too often. However, she was sure that no one added her to his or her requests._

_At the end of Wednesday, the groups were put up on the board. Zoe made sure to check the sheet and memorize her group. She winced, not too happy with what she was given. One of them was Rin. Another was Nazu, so it maybe wouldn't be so bad. At least there was a friendly face that she was with._

_She then walked away from the group, ready to leave when she saw the figure of Nazu walking down the hall. Zoe raced after her and greeted her. "Hey," she said. "Looks like we're going to be in the same group but we also are stuck with Rin."_

"_Hm," Nazu answered, uninterested. "I'm not going to be going on the trip."_

_Zoe gave her a confused look. "How come?"_

"_My grandmother is celebrating her birthday so my mom and dad are dragging me to Kansai."_

"_That doesn't sound too bad," Zoe mused._

"_My grandmother is an average Osakan." Nazu rolled her eyes. "With extra crazy."_

"_That's better than my grandmother," Zoe said. "She was a strict Catholic."_

_Nazu made a noise and shrugged. "Good luck with my bitch of a cousin."_

"_Rin's your cousin?"_

"_I wish she wasn't."_

_Zoe hummed to herself. Talking with Nazu was so weird. She wasn't hostile towards her, unlike the other girls. The two walked out of the school to see a car parked in the street. The window rolled down and Zoe's mother called out to her in Italian. "[Sweetie, come on and get in!]"_

_Zoe's shoulders fell. Oh, the girls would see this and she'd get crap for it, no problem. She turned to Nazu. "Want a ride?" she offered._

"_No, I prefer walking," she answered and turned away._

_Zoe waved to her as she left, the shadow of a half smile still on her face. _Well, that wasn't so bad, _she thought. Then she heard several girls talking behind her._

"_Can't she walk herself home?"_

"_What a baby."_

"_Ugh, what an ugly color."_

_Zoe gripped one of her wrists and ran over to her mother's car and getting in the backseat. "[Hi, Mom,]" she greeted, keeping her eyes down._

_Mrs. Orimoto greeted her brightly then started the car. Several times, Zoe could feel her mother's eyes glance over at her. At a stoplight, she looked at her daughter. "[Something wrong?]" she asked, concerned. "[You're a lot quieter than you normally are.]"_

"_No, no, Mom," she answered in Japanese. "Uh…do you think you can speak to me in Japanese when you pick me up?"_

_Her mother studied her for a second. "Why?" she asked._

"_Well…no reason really," Zoe lied, looking out the window._

"_Hunny, you can talk to me, you know," Mrs. Orimoto said. "Remember, I was once a girl too."_

"_Yeah," agreed Zoe, her mind elsewhere._

_A horn suddenly honked behind them. Mrs. Orimoto looked behind her and cursed in Italian before looking at the light, noticing that it was green and driving forwards. "Uh, I hate driving," Mrs. Orimoto muttered, crossing the street. "Don't tell your father I swore, 'kay, Zoe?"_

_Zoe giggled in agreement._

X:::::::::X

It was a few minutes before FlameWizardmon had found the right cure for the curse. He rattled off several ingredients. Bokomon had volunteered to look through the ingredients that FlameWizardmon had and found that they had come up short on a few ingredients but FlameWizardmon said that several of them were in his garden. Only one was left that needed to be found.

It was Koichi who volunteered, deciding to drag along Takuya and Strabimon as well. Takuya at first refused to leave but when Strabimon dragged him out, Takuya complied reluctantly.

Takuya was allowed to sit in the dirt, arms crossed like a little child. He gave Koichi a side glare. "What are you dragging me out here for?" he asked, irritably.

Koichi backed up a step. "I think that you needed to get out…and maybe wanted to talk?"

Takuya snorted. "No, I don't have anything to talk about," he answered.

Koichi looked away. "Well, if you want to talk, you know you can speak to any of us," he said, using the statement Takuya had said earlier that day.

Takuya snapped his head up at him. Koichi looked back at the goggle-head with a half smile. Takuya couldn't help but return it. Koichi offered him a hand and the boy took it.

"Please don't get me caught into any of this," Strabimon sighed, shaking his head.

"Why's that, bu-dy?" Takuya asked teasingly. "You afraid of having to comfort people?"

Strabimon rolled his eyes and walked on.

Then, suddenly, Tommy raced out to them. "Here," he said, handing them an object that looked like a whistle. "FlameWizardmon says to use it when you reached a pond from that way." Tommy pointed over the hill. "It'll call for an Opossumon and ask for a herb called a vigratti."

"Any idea what a vigratti looks like?" asked Koichi. The boy shook his head.

"Well, that's going to be easy," quipped Strabimon.

Takuya smiled, pocketing the item and then he patted the boy's head. "Thanks, buddy," he said.

Tommy nodded. "Good luck."

Takuya nodded in response before leaving with the other two. The three climbed the hillside, hoping that they didn't walk on any part of the hill that was over FlameWizardmon's home. When at the top of the hill, they looked out towards where they could find this pond.

"'bout an hour's walk?" guessed Koichi.

"More or less," Strabimon answered.

"Well, let's just get going and be back as quickly as possible. Zoe's not going to wait forever," Takuya said, racing down the hill. He slipped on the wet grass and slid down the rest of the way.

Koichi and Strabimon went after him, asking if he was all right. Of course, he just wiped his grass stained pants off and continued. Koichi and Strabimon went after him.

The three continued in silence, mainly running most of the distance until they came to a slower jog to catch their breath. A small strip of trees surrounded the pond and so the three walked through it eagerly at a running pace.

"Baluluna Gale!" A sudden blast of wind took the three by surprise, knocking them off their feet and sent flying a few feet back. They looked up to see a female Digimon dressed in red witch clothing that was holding a broom in hand. Next to her was a small white animal Digimon that looked fairly beaten up.

The witch hummed. "Ah, so I can safely assume you are the enemies of Ranamon?" she asked before producing a small yellow heart shaped herb. "And I'm guessing you also came for this?"

"That's the vigratti?" Koichi asked.

"You're the Witchmon that put the spell on Zoe?" Takuya demanded, getting up and producing his D-tector from his pocket. "Give us that thing or I'm going to have to take it from you!"

The Witchmon just smirked and pocketed the vigratti. "Well, my little cats, I'd love to do that but in all honesty, I don't care if your friend dies," she said. "It's business and all. Fight me all you want but I'm not going to let you ruin my business."

"Why?" Koichi shouted, anger rising a little. "Why do you work with Ranamon?"

"Power, that's it," she answered. She brought out a new item that looked like a Spirit. "Namely something like this. If I know correctly, it'd belong to your little friend? Well, then it would be ironic if what is destined for her would be used to _kill_ her and her friends—of course, that would be after I finish you."

"Yeah, well, that isn't going to happen!" shouted Takuya, Spirit Evolving. Koichi followed suit.

"Pyro Tornado!"

"Statue Bomber!"

Witchmon easily jumped back, hopping on her broom and circling them. "Go, Spirit! Hurricane Gale!"

Witchmon waved a hand and a funnel of wind was unleashed on the two Hybrids. The two got to their feet and glared up after Witchmon. "Well, this is too easy!"

"Not for long!" Gargoylemon quickly bounced into the air, summoning a six-winged angel from the ground and commanding it to attack. Witchmon used the Spirit of Wind again to slice through the statue, creating claws of pink plasma out of her hands. While distracted, Gargoylemon crashed into her from behind, knocking her clean off her broom. The two landed in the water with a splash.

The two resurfaced. Witchmon called on the water, turning them into ice shards and launching them at the retreating gargoyle. Agunimon unleashed a Pyro Punch to distract her and allow Gargoylemon to Gargoylemon created a freezing wind from his wings and freezing the pond, trapping their opponent.

The two walked over to her as she struggled, trying to free her hands. She turned her gaze up to them, glaring.

"Give us the Spirit and the vigratti," Agunimon stated. "You do that and we'll let you go."

Witchmon's gaze relaxed. She closed her eyes and smiled smugly. "It won't matter if you have the vigratti or not," she muttered. "For all you know it's too late."

Koichi narrowed his eyes dangerously. "You will do it," he hissed, his voice sharp and threatening. This made Agunimon glance at him from the corner of his eye. The atmosphere around him became electrically charged and almost dark.

Witchmon snapped her head up and her smug look was gone and replaced by a look of fear, eyes wide as saucers and mouth open like she was trying to say something. "So…much darkness…"

Then, her look changed. She narrowed her eyes. "Aquary Pressure!" The fight was on again.

X:::::::::X

_What a bunch of liars and backstabbers! Zoe returned to school the following Monday begrudgingly. She could hear the whispers and gossiping. Everyone had seen it and for those who hadn't, they knew by the time the bell rung._

_At first, Zoe was excluded from her own assigned group. On the trail, she followed behind the group and actually talked with one of the girls named Kimiko. _"Maybe you're not as bad as the other girls claim. You're really nice."_ What a load! Kimiko was just playing her the whole time! She put on the "nice girl" and Zoe was crazy to fall for it. Kimiko had invited her to join them for dinner but then last minute turned her away. With that, Zoe escaped from the tent and slept outside under the stars, hoping and wishing that she was back at home in Italy._

_Of course, she had heard about it. Once Zoe had entered class, she dared not glance over at the other girls. Even with this defensive measure, she was still hit by the scathing comments from Rin and Chiyoko._

"_Oh, if it isn't the social reject," stated one._

"_I heard about what happened. I thought you liked being alone."_

_Zoe ignored them at first but the taunts kept coming. "Yeah, I like being alone," she answered. It was a lie but she was willing to lie to get them to shut up. Of course, they saw through the farce._

"_Oh, now trying to be strong? What a joke."_

"_Oh, shut up, Rin. If anyone's a joke, it's you." Zoe looked up to see Nazu sit down next to her, glaring at her cousin._

_Rin just chortled. "Fine, whatever, Nazy." With that, she walked away._

_Nazu looked over at Zoe. "What was that about?" she asked. "How was the trip?"_

_Zoe snorted, "As if you don't know. I bet you helped set it up."_

"_Wait, what?"_

_Zoe rolled her eyes. "As if you don't know," she answered. "You are all the same. What was in it for you, huh? You going to betray me next?"_

"_What?" Nazu responded. She glared at the blonde. "Are you even in your right mind, right now? I barely know you. How can I betray you?"_

"_Oh, don't start with me! You're all liars and backstabbers! I was stupid to think that I could think that you or Kimiko were different!"_

"_What the hell happened?"_

"_ORIMOTO! FUKUFUYA!" shouted a male voice. The two girls looked to see the teacher standing at his desk. "I don't know what's going on but you can go to the hallway and figure it out. I won't let this arguing continue during class."_

_The two complied and entered the hallway and slid the door behind them. Nazu was the one who was the first to start the conversation on a controlled but still angry voice. "What happened? What the hell did I do?"_

_Zoe folded her arms. "You're all the same. You're all backstabbers and you'll only do it. It's just a matter of time."_

"_What the hell are you talking about?"_

"_Oh, as if you hadn't heard! Oh, I bet your talking about it with the others," Zoe shot._

"_They never talk to me, remember?" Nazu retorted, her voice starting to rise._

"_Nice cover," Zoe accused. "You know, what? I'm sick and tired of this!"_

"_Hey! Answer my damn question!" Nazu grabbed her by the shoulder._

"_Let go of me!"_

"_Answer me!"_

_Zoe shoved her away, the brown haired girl landed on the ground. "I don't want to talk or see you anymore, Fukufuya! I'm sick and tired of getting pushed around and ground down into the dirt! I'm sure you're just as low as they are!"_

"_Dammit, listen-!" Nazu tried to say but Zoe cut in._

"_Don't talk to me, maiale!" she shouted before turning and leaving._

Zoe felt really bad. She remembered trying to apologize but her anger wasn't let go of until the next month week when Nazu unexpectedly transferred to a new school. Between that argument, Zoe and Nazu gave each other the silent treatment or butted heads. After realizing what a stupid move she made, she was so guilt ridden about it that she could find a way to apologize.

_I'm just a coward, _she thought. _I just burry it and try to forget about it. I'm such an idiot! Nothing stays buried. I'm not even worth my friends' time. I don't want to repeat that. I don't…_

**Chapter 17: End.**


	19. Chapter 18: I Can't Fight The Rain

**A/N: ****Dear, God, sorry this took so long! I haven't been able to upload the next chapter for the last week and a half is because I kept getting an error and just today, it's fixed! 8D (hugs the staff of ) Ahem, anyway, with that out of the way, on with the usual! ****Thanks madjack89, Starowner, and Martiny for reviewing. ^-^ This is the second time I've had Zoe been forced to eat a foul smelling soup to beat an illness. Title inspired by the Three Days Grace song "No More."**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I don't even live in Japan and I only knew of Pokemon when the first Digimon season came out. Really. :P**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 18: I Can't Fight the Rain

The two boys and the Digimon returned fairly quickly with the ingredient and the Spirit in hand as well as the Opossumon so that he could be tended to. The vigratti was handed over and FlameWizardmon went about readying a small stew that gave off a foul stench. Then, all they could do was wait.

"It probably won't be until tomorrow until your friend's fever breaks. I have extra blankets that you can borrow," FlameWizardmon offered.

"Thanks," Koichi said, turning towards the FlameWizardmon.

Tommy had clung to Takuya when he had gotten back and was with JP and Takuya, sitting around Zoe.

He approached the others and offered them blankets. "Hey," he began. "It's getting late, so maybe we should start getting rest?"

JP and Takuya looked up. "No," they stated sternly. Tommy, however, yawned and blinked sleepily.

"Okay," he complied, hesitantly walking over to Koichi. FlameWizardmon began clearing a space for the group before going to Opossumon and tending to her.

Koichi looked back at the two. Both were worried; so worried to stay by her side. He wouldn't be too surprised to see them both argue who should stay up with her. Then, Koichi had an epiphany. He quickly turned his head. _Oh, god, this is going to be interested later_, he mused. _Takuya and JP…This is going to be crazy…Maybe I've been watching too many of grandma's soap operas?_

"What'cha giggling about?" Tommy asked. "Isn't this a time to be a sad time?"

"Yes…sorry, Tommy. My mind has a tendency to wander sometimes," Koichi apologized.

Tommy shrugged. "Goodnight," he said, uninterested in what had passed through the elder boy's mind. Tommy was far more interested in trying to find a place to sleep.

"Night," Koichi answered before saying it to the others. The replied quickly and Koichi was off to find an area to sleep in among the stacks of books.

X:::::::::X

Strabimon was still awake and was situated in a seat near the only window in the dugout. He had witnessed JP and Takuya get into a pissing contest about who should stay awake with Zoe before they both decided to take turns. Somehow, Takuya got the first turn.

Strabimon was glad for the silence he was given after it all. He watched the human with mild interest. Strabimon then snorted and looked out of it to see the three moons in the sky. His mind flashed over what had occurred only hours before. _"So…much darkness…"_

Was she referring to the Koichi's anger? Could she have felt it? He had seen his partner angry on only one other time and that was in the Television Forest. This time, he felt that anger. It was strange; the anger was dark and gruesome. He could also have sworn that there was a small tint of bloodlust. But…why had she mentioned darkness? Koichi was the Warrior of Light, not the Dark; that was Koji's job, after all.

He scratched the back of his neck. Strange things had been happening so far, namely based around Koichi…and then Koji. Both were similar despite being polar opposites. They both had a Spirit that created partners that were needed to Spirit Evolve…and the Spirits of Light and Darkness are the only two to have done it in their respective teams.

Strabimon turned his gaze away from the window and down onto a book. He picked it up and turned it over, uninterested.

He weighed the book in his hand, resting his head on the other hand. "Maybe I'm over thinking things," he mumbled. "What does it matter as long as I help my partner and his friends achieve their goal of stopping Cherubimon?"

"Well, then, what about after?" asked a familiar dopey voice. Strabimon was taken aback and dropped the book. He looked at Neemon and gave him an annoyed look.

"Do you always have to input on something that doesn't relate to you?" he asked.

Neemon ignored the contempt in the wolf's voice—or maybe he didn't notice at all. The rabbit Digimon picked up the book and balanced it on his head but that only lasted a few seconds as it thudded to the ground.

"What are you going to do after it, Strabimon?" Neemon repeated.

Strabimon opened his mouth to answer but stopped. He hadn't thought about it before. What could he do after peace was found? He was a fighter. What could he even do besides that? "I…don't know," he admitted.

Neemon looked at him quizzically. "I'd think you'd make for a great flagpole!" the Digimon suggested, earning him a hardcover book to be dropped onto his head.

"Ochies," Neemon said, rubbing his head.

"Go get some sleep and don't bother me with dumb questions now, would ya?" Strabimon stated. "I'm tired, so leave me alone."

Neemon was quick to withdraw, leaving Strabimon alone. He looked towards Takuya, half expecting a scolding from him for dropping the book on Neemon but he noticed the said Warrior was fast asleep, bent over the bed, snoring occasionally.

Strabimon snorted in amusement. He then pondered what the humans would do once their goal in the Digital World was accomplished. What could they do in the Human World once everything was done? He honestly couldn't think of anything.

Strabimon allowed himself to chuckle. "I'm more of a fighter than a thinker anyway," he said before getting comfy. It would be a good idea to get some sleep.

X:::::::::X

Koichi was the first to wake up. He forced himself up and wiped the remains of sleep from his eyes. The first thought that ran through his head was more a memory of a dream. _What was that?_ he thought groggily. Most of his dream was covered with the haze of waking up but two distinct figures stood out at him for sure.

One was a demonic knight with blotches of red that he couldn't distinguish. Koichi thought he had seen it before but he couldn't put his finger on it. Even just thinking about the dark figure sent a small chill down his spine.

The other was a white gargoyle with restraints on it. Koichi thought maybe it could be Gargoylemon. He couldn't exactly figure out _why_ Gargoylemon would be in his dream with the dark figure.

Then he remembered a few flashes, like still images played in rapid secession. The dark knight and Gargoylemon were fighting. Then there was the arrival of a third person seen only as a blur of dark gray. Then the gray figure too joined the fight.

It was puzzling. Koichi scratched his head, trying to figure it out. Maybe it symbolized something? His mother had often tried deciphering dreams using books and such. Maybe they were conflicting portions of doubt? Consciousness? Or maybe just complete nonsense? That'd make a bit more sense, the dream being nonsense. Maybe it was a scene from a book he had read? Or a scene from a—?

Koichi was jarred from his trail of thoughts as he found himself falling over a stack of books he had failed to see when he was walking towards the other end of the dugout. In his fall, he managed to knock down several piles of books and scattering papers. The boy winced as he rose and checked himself over. _Ugh, _he thought, _even though I'm a Warrior, I'm still accident-prone._ "Maybe I shouldn't think while I walk," he added aloud.

"I'd have to concur," came JP's voice from behind him. The Warrior of Light looked over at JP, who had been apparently sleeping where a stack of books had fallen onto him. The Warrior of Thunder waved a book at him.

Koichi smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," he apologized.

"Eh, I've had worse wake up calls," JP said, tossing the book away from him. "I've had my mother drop cold water on me."

"Really?"

"Not pleasant, let me tell you and I could easily picture our housekeeper complaining about cleaning it up," JP said, getting up and stretching.

"_Housekeeper?_" Koichi gaped.

"Uh…yeah, never mind," JP replied hastily.

"What are you two boys talking so loudly about?" groaned a female's voice. The two looked over to see Zoe. She was sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Zoe!" JP exclaimed.

"You're awake!" added Koichi. The two hurried over with smiling faces. "You feeling all right?"

"Yeah," she said, though it sounded kind of forced. "I just have a bit of a headache."

At this moment, Takuya stirred from where his head had rested on the side of the bed. "Hmm wha?" he asked, looking around with half-opened eyes.

At this moment, JP's head quickly turned towards Takuya. He blinked once, then twice, as if he was processing information. "TAKUYA, YOU LIAR!" he shouted, scaring the addressed boy out of his sleepiness and making him fall over in surprise.

Takuya looked around and then up at JP's glaring face. "What? What was I—?" he began but then cut himself short, as if he remembered something. "O-h. H-hey, JP, you were asleep and I didn't have the heart to wake you up…" he apologized.

"You said you would wake me up when you were going to sleep," JP said, his face contorted into a glare.

Koichi looked between the two, befuddled. All he could do was assume that it had something to do with his realization that he made last night. He chocked back a laugh but his body still shook from the suppressed giggles.

"What?" asked the two boys.

"Nothing," Koichi stated, his voice shaking from laughter. He then attempted to stop it by covering his mouth with his hand. However, JP and Takuya kept prodding and yelling.

"Can you guys quiet down?" shouted Zoe. The three looked over at her and she instantly dropped her head. "I-I'm sorry. I mean can you quiet it down a little? I have a bit of a headache."

"Yeah, sure, Zee," JP said, his voice dropped in concern.

"Sure," agreed Takuya, doing the same.

Koichi cocked his head. "You sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Hm. Yeah, yeah," she answered. "Just a bit hungry?"

"Uh…okay then."

"Maybe we can go ask FlameWizardmon for something to eat?" suggested Takuya, automatically rising and going to go find FlameWizardmon. Koichi went to go and awaken Tommy and Strabimon.

Breakfast was quickly made. However, despite Zoe's comment, she didn't touch her food. When asked about it, she just answered, "Maybe I wasn't hungry." It was dropped after a few more questions of "Are you sure?" and she kept with the same "I'm fine" answer.

X:::::::::X

With a quick thank you and a quick gathering of supplies (complements of FlameWizardmon and a thankful Opossumon) for their journey, they were on their way to the raft where Takuya, Zoe, and Koichi had left it the day before. All of them were all too eager to get off the island and leave behind their many nightmares.

It all seemed well. Their trip was quick and silent. Tommy clung to Takuya's side but Zoe hung back where Koichi normally walked. JP bounced between in front of Koichi to walking along side Zoe but quickly catching up once she quickly turned him down. The sandy beaches came into view and the group broke into a run, almost wanting to kiss the sand. They were quick to get on the ship and set sail on the smooth sea and they had managed to get a good distance away from the island. Everything seemed perfect.

Of course, the universe had a funny way of working.

"So, the darned spell didn't work after all," muttered Ranamon. She was watching them as she rested on her stomach with her chin resting in her palms, suspended in the air by a column of water.

"Oh for crying out loud," Takuya groaned.

"Can't we just have a break?" complained JP.

Ranamon looked back at them, clearly insulted. "And you pickled headed brats can't tell when you're in the sight of a lady and not a frog."

"Actually, aren't you a frog? I mean literally?" Zoe blurted, crossing her arms. "'Rana' does mean 'frog' in Italian."

Ranamon glared at the blonde. "Oh, really? According to what I saw, you're the frog," Ranamon began, tossing her hand and looking a way as if to say she didn't care. "I mean, after all that you did to that poor, poor girl."

Zoe automatically tensed and a look of guilt swept over her features. She shook.

Ranamon smirked manically. "That's right. You remember that don't you?"

Takuya glared at Ranamon. He was tired of it. The Warrior of Flame grabbed his D-tector and Spirit Evolved into Agunimon and shot a Pyro Dragon at the Warrior of Water, catching Ranamon off guard.

The Digimon rolled into the water and returned his hostile gaze. She called upon the water to attack him. Agunimon automatically jumped to meet it and dissipate it with a furious flaming kick.

Of course he had forgotten that he was fighting out in the middle of the _sea._ He cursed his recklessness as he met the water. He felt the water churn around him as he swam towards the surface, pulling him under. The undertow, most likely from Ranamon was a little too much for him.

He struggled against it for a minute, trying to shake it off but to no avail. His only chance was the Beast Spirit and in which he was all too cautious about using. _It's my only chance,_ he reminded himself. _I know what I'm dealing with. I will control it. I have reasons! If only I had my chance! _Then low and behold, the current gave. He swam away in slopping path and Slide Evolving just as he broke the surface.

A familiar feeling of animal rage swept over him and then it followed with his insecure doubts. _You won't be able to control it._

_Yes I can, _he answered strongly.

_You are weak._

_Yeah, so? I'm not weak enough to be taken over a second time._

_You won't be able to protect your friends._

_Prove it._

With that, the doubts and the voice disappeared. He was now in control.

He flew into the air, flapping as much of the water that had managed to dampen the edges of his wings. Beetlemon and Gargoylemon were flying around their target and when they heard the roar, they looked back. Upon seeing BurningGreymon, they became antsy and unsure how things would play out.

"Wildfire Tsunami!" The dragon covered himself in flames and raced towards them. The two flying Digimon quickly flew out of the way just as BurningGreymon turned so his wings were perpendicular to the ocean's surface, passing between the two and crashing into Ranamon's tower of water.

He quickly snapped upwards and hovered for a minute, the flames dissipating. Beetlemon and Gargoylemon exchanged looks. They didn't remember BurningGreymon having such control before.

"That you in control?" asked Beetlemon.

"Yeah!" called out the dragon.

Gargoylemon whistled and Koichi heard Strabimon comment, _Well, if only we had that before._

_Hey, at least he has it,_ Koichi retorted back.

Ranamon popped out of the water suddenly, shrieking angrily. "How dare you do that to a lady!"

"Whatever, frog-face," BurningGreymon taunted.

She glared at them. "Fine. I guess I'll use my Beast Spirit so I can end this. Slide Evolution!" Once she was unwrapped from the cocoon of data, Ranamon had grown in size, easily standing taller than a tree and had taken on a form of an upside down squid with sickly gray skinned upper human body. "Now, y'all be prepared to be taken down in all my radiant beauty as Calmaramon!"

"Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Gargoylemon said.

"If they can handle a sore eye," BurningGreymon added.

"I doubt a mother could love such a face," Beetlemon stated, disgusted.

"SCARY!" shouted Neemon.

Calmaramon glared at them. "How dark you! Acid Ink!" She shot ink at the three flying Digimon.

Beetlemon and BurningGreymon dodged and Gargoylemon stood his ground, batting the ink away. Sprays of the projectile reached his wings sizzling the feathers and burned the tips of his fingers. True to its name, the ink was mixed with acid.

"Guys, careful!" he alerted them. "It actually has acid!"

"Well, that would make sense!" inputted Beetlemon, dodging a shot of ink. BurningGreymon flew in but was knocked into the water by one of her tentacles. Gargoylemon and Beetlemon weaved between her attacks and unleashed electrical and blizzard attacks. It did wonders, forcing her to retreat into the water but that was her territory.

Columns of water shot up again and Ranamon re-emerged from the water, dissatisfied with the battle so far. "I'm had enough of this! Drainin' Rain!" Clouds condensed above them and threw them into the water and forcing them to de-evolve in order not to drown because of their extra weights in their armor and restraints.

With the three Warriors out of commission at the moment, Ranamon turned her attention towards the raft. Zoe was watching in horror. Tommy drew close to the blonde fearfully. He was still not over nearly getting drowned by the Warrior of Water and it didn't help that his Spirit couldn't fly and he would have been horribly limited in range.

The only person who could fly between the two was Zoe. He tugged on her arm. "Zoe, aren't you going to help?" he asked, voice shaking slightly.

Zoe seemed to snap out of something and looked over at the boy, eyes wide and then out at the field. _What am I doing?_ she thought. They needed her. She could have a pity party later. "Right," she said, the statement lacking heart. Zoe pulled out her D-tector.

"Oh, what'cha going to do, sugar? Attack me with your _ugly_ Beast Spirit?" Ranamon asked, bored. "You won't be able to beat little old me, even with it."

"I think I'll just have to test it! Beast Spirit Evolution!" Zoe shouted. A strange sensation overcame her and doubt entered her mind. _Do you think you can control it?_

_I have to try. I have something to protect._

_Can you protect them from yourself?_

_I will._

The new Digimon rose into the air elegantly. She was tall and slender, armored in a thin purple suit with brown bird wings sprouting from her back and blue hair with similar colored wings coming out from the sides of her head.

Ranamon just stared with her mouth gaping. "Y…you're actually pretty…" she said, dumbfounded. She folded her arms and glared. "Well, you're not prettier than I am, that's for sure! No one can beat me."

The new Digimon listened quietly. "So?" she stated after Ranamon was done ranting, not caring about what Ranamon had to say. "I'm not trying to win a beauty contest here. I don't care what Zephyrmon looks like at the moment. I think we've done enough talking! Plasma Pods!" Her claws began to glow red and rushing at Ranamon.

Ranamon quickly dove into the water to dodge as her safe tower of water was sliced through. Ranamon quickly resurfaced, evolving into Calmaramon. "Fine, we'll finish this sugar! Woman to woman!"

"Fine by me!" Zephyrmon answered.

"Acid Ink!"

"Plasma Pods!"

Both sides hadn't managed to get in a direct attack. Any ink shot out at Zephyrmon was either blocked by her pods of energy or dodged and Zephyrmon hadn't had the chance to get far enough to actually get in an attack. Then, they both decided to change tactics.

Zephyrmon drew away far enough and raised her hands. She quickly moved them in a circular motion, creating a gale that emitted pink lights. Calmaramon drew into her lower body to escape the brunt of the direct attack. The tentacles straightened out and she began to spin, rising into the air. "TEMPEST TWI—!"

Suddenly, whatever control she had was lost. She began to bounce in the air. "AHH!" she screamed. "HOW DO I CONTROL THIS THING?" Then, if it was even possible, she began to spin even more out of control and flew away, leaving the five humans and two Digimon beyond mystified and dumbfounded.

"Did…she just fly away?" asked Tommy, rubbing his eyes.

"I think she did," Takuya answered, pulling himself out of the water. JP, Strabimon, and Koichi had already done so and just watched, baffled.

"I don't think she had control of her Beast Spirit," Bokomon said embarrassedly.

"Zoe on the other hand does," JP pointed out. "Great job, Zee!"

The beast Digimon flew over and dropped down, de-evolving. She looked at him. "Yeah, thanks," she said, walking past them and towards the other end of the raft. She sad down and watched her reflection.

_"Y…you're actually pretty…" Too bad my insides can't match my outside,_ she thought bitterly.

X:::::::X

A week had passed since Koji and Gazimon had been called to check on Ranamon and parted ways with Mercurymon. They had a job to do and they were going to do it and pick up some of the slack. Gazimon wanted to do it to one-up Ranamon and then be able to brag about it later. Koji just wanted to gather the Fractal Code because it was his duty to do it.

They reached a village in the north. It was bitter cold but Koji had taken no notice; ore really he hadn't felt cold at all. He could feel the water soak through his shoes and water squeeze out of the soles as he walked but he couldn't _feel _it.

"How can you stand it?" Gazimon demanded, licking one of his frozen paws.

"That's just how I am," Koji added absently.

Gazimon smirked. "That's what sets you apart from the others," he said before adding, "besides your form."

"Whatever," replied Koji, uninterested. "How much farther to the village?"

"The Autumn Leaf Fair shouldn't be too far," Gazimon answered, sitting down. "We'll know when we get there, that's for sure."

The two kept walking. It was true; they did know when they reached the Autumn Leaf Fair, as it was _very _different than the tundra they were walking across. It was warm and colorful. It was nice seeing color. Whatever part of Koji's heart that was left unlocked almost welcomed the color. The rest of him didn't even care.

"Ready?" inquired Gazimon, looking up at his partner.

"Of course," answered Koji, pulling out the orb. They were about to evolve when Arbormon suddenly joined them.

"Can't cause a ruckus without me, right?" he asked. Koji tilted his head, allowing the Digimon to join the two, much to Gazimon's disdain. With that, Arbormon Slide Evolved into Petaldramon. He thrust his tail into the earth. Roots began turning up the soil and earth, causing the Digimon to panic and race around, worried about what was happening.

Koji and Gazimon quickly Spirit Evolved into Devimon and began looking for Fractal Code at whatever means necessary.

**Chapter 18: End.**

**The rana/frog portion is actually true, I looked it up, as I already knew it is from the Latin word for frog and I knew that European languages tend to be based heavily after Latin. The next chapter will be up next weekend (not this coming one) as I'm working on trying to finish a different story and should only take me about a week to get it done.**


	20. Chapter 19: To The Very Edge

**A/N: Thanks to Martiny, Madjack89, and Starowner for reviewing. :) When the data for the Autumn Leaf Fair (or refered to Akiba Market in the original version) by Crusadermon and Dynasmon, they took the entire "package" of the data where as what we saw Grumblemon was taking were small portions of it. This is kind of weird if you think about to but I think Dynasmon and Crusadermon are able to take more compared to Cherubimon's Warriors…or maybe it is because the Royal Knights knew where they are after the packets where as Cherubimon was trying to break Ophanimon slowly or something.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier or Digimon in general.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 19: To The Very Edge

They passed through along a single stream of water that floated between chunks of land and nothingness. It was eerie and strange. It was almost impossible yet the great feat before them existed.

"This is what is happening to the Digital World," Bokomon stated sadly, patting the blue egg. "That area that is vacant once was the home of the ninja cities like Kushina and Akatsuki. I never liked those warring cities but I can't help but feel bad for them."

"This is just…" breathed Zoe but her words trailed off.

"…scary," concluded Tommy. "If someone falls down there, they fall forever!"

"I'd hate to be one of them that does," commented JP with a shiver.

"I still can't believe what I'm seeing," Koichi said, his voice and face expressing his astonishment. "It's horrible that someone would want to destroy such a place."

"That's why we have to stop it," Takuya said, gazing out at the empty space with narrowed eyes. "All of us."

The other five Warriors nodded their heads, all sharing their leader's determination. It was their duty. Sure, they at first didn't volunteer for it but they're willing to fight.

"LAND HOE!" cried Neemon.

The group on the raft looked towards where the yellow rabbit was pointing to. The raft sped towards land that was blanketed in white and it didn't seem like they'd slow down any. The passangers grabbed onto something and held on tight as the raft hit land, flying into the air before hitting the snow and taking off down a hill of snow. Bitter winds rubbed against their skin, causing the children to hug themselves for warmth.

The boat sped up as they descended towards the bottom of the hill then over small humps and mounds of snow. Then, a snowman loomed ahead of them. With no way to turn, they crashed into it and ended up sprawled into the snow. They all forced themselves up.

"Who the heck puts a snowman right in the middle of nowhere?" questioned JP, brushing off some of the snow that had clung to his hair.

"Who knows," answered Koichi answered. "Maybe there are Digimon who live close by?"

"Most likely," answered Bokomon, carefully rolling off his back and patting the egg after getting up, making sure it wasn't cracked. "Somewhere in this tundra, there is a city heated by a giant furnace called the Akiba Market." Bokomon gently pulled out the book and checked it over, mumbling, "It should be around here somewhere."

Takuya walked forwards, Tommy trailing behind him. He shook his foot and sneezed. They had to find somewhere warm as quickly as possible. Suddenly, he stopped and Tommy bumped into him.

A few yards away, something shiny caught his eye. The two ran over to it, intrigued by what it could be. It seemed to be just a giant tin can with a fogged up glass top and long cords connected to hands and legs. Next to it was a brown sack. Takuya and Tommy knelt down to inspect it. Tommy attempted to whip off the glass.

Then the arm moved.

Both fell back, startled. The appendages began to move like arms and the can-shaped body. There was a crack in the metal and a red eye looked at them quickly. "Get away from me!"

Takuya narrowed his eyes angrily. "Tin Can, we just found you," he answered, annoyed.

Tommy looked him over. "Why are doing all the way out here?" he asked, curiously. "Isn't water bad for circuits?"

"Sure, sure," the machine answered curtly. It sat up, dusted snow off its front, and grabbed the sack. "It's only bad when the water gets _inside_."

"What the heck's going on?" The other three humans and three Digimon joined them and looked at the android over themselves.

Bokomon frowned. "Another unfriendly Digimon," he muttered. "Datamon, can you tell us where the Akiba Market is?"

The Datamon ignored the gnome's question, his eyes fixed on Koichi. The only indication that the Datamon glowered was the one eye as it narrowed dangerously. "YOU!" he shouted, jabbing a finger towards Koichi, causing all eyes to look at him. "You destroyed everything with your poesy. Here to finish up the job, huh?"

"Wait, what?" questioned Koichi, confused.

"What job?" inquired Tommy.

Suddenly, an idea came to Bokomon. "In which direction is Akiba Market?" he asked.

The Datamon glared at Bokomon. "_Your _friends whipped Akiba Market off the face of the Digital World! You destroyed my home! All of you!"

"How can we have done that when we just got here?" Strabimon demanded.

"Besides, we'd never take the Fractal Code!" added JP. "That's Cherubimon's job."

Datamon wasn't swayed. He turned back, his angry eyes studying the dark haired boy. "Then why is _he _here? Sure in different clothes but it's him all right."

"You must be referring to Koji," Zoe said, walking up and resting a hand on Koichi's shoulder. "Koji and Koichi are twins and look freakishly similar but they're not the same. Koichi wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Thanks?" Koichi said, unsure if he should take what she said as a complement or not.

"Do you know of a village nearby?" Takuya asked, interrupting the conversation. Datamon looked at him skeptically.

"We won't attack you," Tommy reassured brightly.

The Datamon studied them and then gave in. "I was heading that way," he said, pointing towards the west. "There's a smaller village like Akiba Market there. It's the next best place and one of the few settlements where the villagers aren't built for this damn chill." Datamon began leading the way and the others trailed after him.

X:::::::::X

Mercurymon watched with peaking interest. He sat on a big ice cliff overlooking the ocean current and the massive void of the land he had taken that had once been the Shogun Territory. The Warrior smirked to himself as he observed his enemies through his shield-mirror. He had seen the contempt from the Datamon. Things seemed like they could play into his hands no problem.

Mercurymon suddenly heard the crunch of snow from behind him and turned to look to see Grumblemon. "Why art thou here in the bitter cold, Grumblemon?" he asked callously.

"Me here for own reasons, mirror face!" exclaimed Grumblemon. He pointed a finger at Mercurymon. "How can Mercurymon handle cold?"

"How can thee, Grumblemon?" Mercurymon replied.

"Me here for Grumblemon's Beast Spirit!" the dwarf Digimon said. "Mercurymon can find humans. Tell Grumblemon where they are!"

"All in good time," Mercurymon said, standing and turning towards him. "I myself art chasing something that travels with the humans."

"Then me gets them and take it!"

"Thou art too anxious. Trust me, mine clay-brained companion."

X:::::::::X

During the walk to the village, the boys attempted to talk with the machine, only to be turned away with curt words. Zoe, however, walked behind them. After attempting for a third time to find out details about the incident at Akiba Market, Takuya looked back at the blond, a worried look on his face.

Tommy watched the older boy watch Zoe. _Takuya's really worried about Zoe,_ he thought. _I wonder what's wrong…I remember JP asking about it but none of it made sense._

Tommy decided to then preoccupy his mind. He looked over at Datamon and then eyed his sack. Curiosity struck him. The young Warrior began walking in time with the machine and stared at the sack.

"What are you staring at?" demanded Datamon after a few minutes, glaring at the boy.

"Um…I'm just wondering what's in the sack?" he asked. _He really isn't too friendly…_

"Something special, okay?" he answered. "It's what's left of my shop after your _friend_ destroyed my home."

"Koji isn't really our friend," Tommy corrected. "He's a bully right now. He actually kind of scares me…"

Datamon narrowed his eye in annoyance. "Anything else, kid?" he asked.

"No," he began but then decided to add, "I'm sorry you lost your home."

Datamon suddenly stopped and stared at the boy, making Tommy suddenly feel uncomfortable. A few seconds later, Datamon recovered his bitter look. "Yeah, thanks," he said, before continuing.

It was not too long before they made it to the village. Much to the human's surprise, it was actually _green and warm_. It was literally a paradise in the freezing and white desert. The village was a bunch of houses and shops organized circularly around a big red space heater.

"Wow, that's big!" exclaimed Koichi.

"The one that was in Akiba Market was bigger," Datamon said uninterestedly.

"Do you really think…what he said was true though?" asked Koichi, looking at the older brunet.

JP shrugged. "I'd guess. I wouldn't put it past him as he's a lackey of Cherubimon's," he said.

Koichi frowned. How far was Koji away from the reach of being saved?

"I'm sure we'll knock some sense into him," Takuya reassured, abruptly wrapping an arm around Koichi and giving him a large grin. "It'll take a good smack, like fixing a computer!" Koichi couldn't help but give a half-smile in return.

"Takuya, that doesn't always work," Zoe chided, shaking her head.

"I have to agree," Tommy concurred.

Datamon looked back towards them. "Hey, how about I get us a place to stay," he offered.

The Warriors looked over at him in surprise. "What's with this random act of kindness?" asked Strabimon skeptically.

"We're all in the same boat," Datamon answered gruffly. "What's with your sorry attitude."

"Same thing could be asked about you," JP quipped.

"We've just been duped by so many offers of charity that we're just on edge," Koichi explained.

Datamon waved at the notion. "Look, I'm not going to steal anything from you," he stated. "I have no idea what how you've been duped —also not that interested since it's you're problem, not mine—but all I'm going to do is pay for lodging for you guys and be on my way."

The humans looked at each other. It sounded innocent enough. Of course, they'd have to be on their guard. It really also didn't help that they didn't have much money either, as this was the first area they had been too that actually was a village. After coming to a conscensious, they turned and accepted Datamon's offer.

In no time, they were giving lodging and Datamon—being true to his word—went on his way. Dinner was simple for the meager money that Datamon paid with however the Legendary Warriors happily ate it, not having eaten all day since they left FlameWizardmon's homestead. Upon returning to their rooms, stuffed and looking forwards to sleeping on something that wasn't a bunch of leaves or the dirt.

However, Tommy was surprised to find a sack in the room that he and JP were sharing that didn't belong to him. "Hey, JP, isn't that Datamon's?" he asked, picking up the bag.

"Probably," the boy answered, uninterested at the moment.

"Shouldn't we try to return it?" Tommy inquired, looking at it.

"Eh, who cares," JP answered, hopping into bed. He threw the covers over him and looked over at his roommate. "Don't tell me you're going to try and return it."

"Well, why not?" Tommy answered. "It isn't ours, after all. Yutaka taught me that I should keep stuff that don't belong to me." _Even if he's a big jerk,_ Tommy added as an afterthought.

"Well, if that surly Datamon wanted the stuff, he wouldn't have left it behind. If you want to return it, fine by me but I'm too tired to go on a wild goose chase. He might come back here eventually to pick up the old thing anyway." With that, JP turned over and pulled the covers up and turned out the light. "G' night, kiddo."

"Night, JP," Tommy answered with a frown. He sat there in silence for a few minutes, thinking over what he could do. Swinging his legs, he mulled through the possibilities. Finally, Tommy quietly left the room. Everyone else was asleep, so he shouldn't have to wake anyone up. Maybe everyone else would say no to his venture. Tommy didn't want to risk that chance. Being sure to be extra quiet, he slowly walked through the hallway before until Tommy came to the steps. With that, he raced down the steps and then out the door.

Tommy hadn't thought about how he would find Datamon. His thought process hadn't came up with idea until he came out into the warm air. _Maybe I should have asked Takuya and the others for help…_he thought. Tommy shook his head. _No! I need to do something on my own sometimes! I'll prove it to Yutaka!_

With his mind made up, Tommy began running down the street. There was no way Datamon could have left already and by now, the machine Digimon might have found out that his bag was missing.

Tommy quickly took a turn, finding himself in an allyway. He frowned. "Maybe JP was right, maybe he didn't want his bag." He turned around and continued. Tommy at least had to make sure that he didn't want it.

However, Tommy's enthusiam began to burn out along with his stamina. He stopped, finally, breathing hard. The Warrior of Ice sat down next to a building, sitting the sack next to him. After a few breaths, his gaze wandered over to it. What was in the sack anyway?

His curiosity was sparked as he remembered how Datamon had described it's contents as "special." _I wonder what kind of special,_ he thought to himself, deciding to sneak a peak. He carefully untied the top and began to open it when—

"What the hell do you think you're doing with my stuff, kid?" shouted Datamon. Tommy jumped, the bag falling out of his hands and onto the road. Datamon clunked his way over to him and picked up his bag, glowering at the Warrior of Ice.

Tommy took a deep breath. "You left the bag in my room when you went with us to check them out," Tommy explained, quickly. "I-I thought that you would want it back."

"Oh, really? Why should I believe you when you were _looking_ into the bag and _not_ in the room?" it asked, taking a dangerous step forwards.

Tommy shrank. "I-I'm not lying," he insisted, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Oh, whatcha going to do, cry me a river so you can get away with it?" Datamon accused in an insulted tone.

"Grumblemon could do that for stupid Tin Can," a new voice said from down the lane. Tommy wasn't sure if he was supposed to be glad or not with the arrival of the Warrior of Earth.

"What's you're problem? Learn how to speak English, not illiterate," muttered Datamon.

"Datamon, I think we should get out of here now," Tommy whispered to the machine Digimon but Datamon ignored him.

"Oh but thou art not going anywhere, young Warrior," a condacening voice said from behind them. Tommy gasped and grabbed Datamon before backing away. He recognized the tall steel Digimon as Mercurymon. He gulped, knowing that that he couldn't take on these two Digimon at once.

Datamon glanced at both of them. "Who are they?" Datamon asked. "Friends of yours?"

"They're Mercurymon and Grumblemon and they work for Cherubimon," Tommy answered, trying to find a way to get past either of them.

"We cometh for the Spirits," Mercurymon stated, smirking down at them. "I knoweth that you have something as well, my fellow steel kin. I want it."

"Yeah, well, what makes you think I'm going to give it to ya?" Datamon inquired, putting the bag over his shoulder and glaring at Mercurymon. "Give me two good reasons! Digital Bombs!" From his fingers, Datamon sent a swarm of small red objects at Mercurymon and Grumblemon. Not even bothering to take notice if the attack was enough to make a distraction, the two began running for an opening.

They ran as fast as they could, weaving through buildings until they reached the limits of the village and the warm heat and they were running on snow and ice. Areas cracked under their feet.

They only made it about a mile when, a flying disk came out of nowhere and breezed under their feet. The two fell into the snow and ice. They began scrambling to their feet and turned to see Mercurymon, standing before them. He caught his shield and rested it on his arm.

Behind, they heard Grumblemon catching up. He took several steps out onto the ice and stopped when there was a sudden crack. Grumblemon took a step back. "No way me going out there!" he shouted at his comrade. "It too thin!"

"I doth not need a fool to gather the Spirits," Mercurymon mumbled, turning his attention back to the two. "Now, handest me the Spirits and thou shalt not be destroyed."

"I said, give me two, Tin Head," Datamon said, getting to his feet but Tommy pulled him down, trying to warn him of the ice.

"Reason two: thou shalt gain his home back," Mercurymon announced. He presented one of his shields to the two and an image of a giant town with a red furnance like the village appeared on the glass.

Datamon fell silent.

"Doth we have a deal?"

Tommy suddenly shook his arm. "Datamon, they won't!" he said. "They're just a bunch of bullies that steal Fractal Code! Bullies always taunt like this."

Datamon didn't answer. He just stared at Mercurymon. "Really?" he asked in disbelief.

Mercurymon tacitly nodded, his smirk widening. "Datamon," Tommy pleaded.

Datamon began walking forwards, the ice creaking under him. Tommy watched, when suddenly, there was a loud crack. The ice gave way and Datamon fell into the water. Tommy watched in horror as he flailed and tried holding onto the ice. That was all he could watch and he finally Spirit Evolved.

Mercurymon walked over and reached for the bag.

"Frozen Tundra!"

Mercurymon held up his mirror, parrying the icicle body of Kumamon. He jerked his arm forward, sending the Warrior of Ice flying. Kumamon turned his body into its ordinary form with skis on his boots and pulled out his snowball launcher. Landing, the bear shot snowballs at Mercurymon. The inertia sent him backwards.

With enough of being shot at, Mercurymon turned his attention to the Warrior of Ice and disappeared into his mirror. Kumamon stopped shooting, curious on where Mercurymon disappeared. He made an angle with his skis to slow himself to a stop.

"You thoughtest you could get away?" asked Mercurymon from behind Kumamon. The bear gasped and turned, only to get punched on his right. Kumamon's cheek throbbed as he went backwards a little. Regaining balance, he shot snowballs to escape. Speeding backwards, Tommy suddenly got an idea.

Datamon had fallen through some thin ice. He guessed if he could lure Mercurymon into a thin patch, maybe he too would fall through and give him enough time to go running to help Datamon. Kumamon grinned and looked back, seeing the Warrior of Earth watch him in surprise as he passed.

Kumamon came to a stop a short distance behind Grumblemon. Grumblemon saw him and swung his hammer. Kumamon leaned and fell to the ground to avoid the hammer. He listened carefully for the bang as the hammer hit something metal. Tommy grinned as he watched Mercurymon fall into a thin ice patch and have it break under his weight.

Grumblemon was too shocked to do anything at the moment, giving Kumamon enough time to scramble to his feet and push him from behind. The Warrior of Earth too, fell in and flailed for help.

Kumamon quickly began moving to where Datamon was. The machine had somehow managed to get himself on land and he held tight to the bag. "Come on! We have to get out of here!" he exclaimed.

Datamon nodded, getting onto the bear's skis. Tommy used his snowball launcher again and they began moving, slowly at first but eventually, the skis picked up the speed and they were traveling towards the village and down the sloping hill in a matter of minutes. Inertia kept them going for a good distance along a straight road until friction slowed the two down. Kumamon de-evolved into Tommy and yawned.

"Now's not the time to be tired," Datamon told him. "We got to find those friends of yours and get going. I don't want to be close if or when those two get out of the ice."

Tommy nodded. He pulled out his D-tector and used it to see if he couldn't use it for something. He fiddled with it until a map showed up. On it, several dots were clustered in a corner. The two followed it, lead by Datamon until they got to the hotel that Tommy had left not too long before. The two raced inside.

Tommy went to wake up JP first but after having a hard time with it, Datamon flipped over his mattress, spilling the boy tangled in his sheets onto the floor. "Whazzat?" he called out, trying to get unwrapped. "Something has me! Help!"

"JP! We need to get out of here!" Tommy exclaimed, rushing out to wake the others.

JP, finally pulling himself out of the sheets, gave a quick glance around. "What had you, the Octomon?" quipped Datamon.

"Ha ha, nice to see you too," JP replied, annoyed.

Out in the hallway, Koichi was already up along with Strabimon, having been startled by JP's cry. "What's going on?" asked Koichi, rubbing his eyes.

"Who's attacking JP in a nightmare?" added Strabimon.

Tommy quickly filled them in. The two partners understood and went to wake the others up. After shouts from Takuya being scared awake by Strabimon and much needed informing, the humans and Digimon were on their way towards the local Trailmon station. Datamon exchanged a small item for several Trailmon tickets. The group quickly boarded an empty Trailmon and were soon on their way.

Takuya sighed, collapsing onto a seat. "I'm going back to bed," he said. "I'm so dang tired, I just want some sleep!"

"Mercurymon and Grumblemon are here, though," Koichi pointed out.

"When they attack, wake me up," Takuya answered, getting snug on the seat.

"Me too!" JP added, joining him.

"Lazy oafs," Strabimon muttered.

"Well, we do need our sleep," Zoe admitted. "I think we should all get some more sleep."

"Things should be all right for a while," Datamon said. "Right now, they're most likely trying to figure out where we went, if they haven't pulled themselves out of the ice."

Strabimon stared at Datamon. "_You_ did that?"

"No, this kid did," Datamon answered, indicating to Tommy. Strabimon just stared at him, wide-eyed.

He snorted. "I'd believe it when I see it," he commented, turning away.

"Well, what a nice lot you are," grunted Datamon. He turned to Tommy. "Hey," he began awkwardly. "I don't know how I can properly thank you. I'm not too good with people."

"That's an understatement!" opined Takuya, having overheard them.

"Oh, go back to sleep!" Datamon shouted at him. Datamon turned back to Tommy and began to rummage around in soaked bag. "Can I see that device-thingy?"

"You mean the D-tector?" Tommy asked, pulling it out and handing it to the machine.

"So, it's called a D-tector?" Datamon asked, checking it over in his hands. "I'd like to one day take a look at this. Anyway—." The machine pulled out a small figure out of his bag. "I think this rightfully belongs to you."

Tommy gasped as the figure went into his D-tector and the screen showed the sign of Ice. "My Beast Spirit!" he exclaimed. It was the only other logical conclusion. He squealed and hugged Datamon, scarying the Digimon. "Thank you!"

Soon, he was off to bounce around, showing off his new Spirit as if it was a shinny new toy he had gotten to the groaggy passangers. They either waved him off or congradulated him before drifting back to sleep.

Nothing happened all night. There were no signs of Mercurymon and Grumblemon catching up and getting their revenge. It was smooth sailing the next day when they figured out where their next destination was: a small village in the Continent of Light called the Burgermon Village. They hoped they could gain a few days of rest after all their encounters with their enemies, feeling it was a much needed reward after going through all they went through.

**Chapter 19: End.**

**God, I'm butchering the Shakespearean English. (cries) I can't wait to get Mercurymon killed and him over with!**


	21. Chapter 20: Marching With A Broken Heart

**A/N: Okay, not what I had in mind when I originally planned it but I'm happier with this chapter than the original plan. Sorry those who don't like JP. Anyway, I'm so, so sorry that I haven't updated in like a month. I've been so busy and I just finished this chapter Wednesday. **_**May is freakin' booked for me because it's that fun time. Whee. /sarcasm. **_**I won't be able to feely update until June or maybe late May. There is a planned total of eleven chapters left for me to write (hopefully). Anyway, let's move on! Thanks to madjack89, Immortal Fallen Radiance, and Stelra Etnae for reviewing. Holy crimmany, this story's going to get a hundred reviews before I'm even finished with it. o_O;**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 20: Marching With A Broken Heart

The Trailmon ride lasted about a day and a half, eventually landing them in a village that Bokomon said was called the Bugermon Village. The village resembled something of an old American western movie with cowboys. Buildings were lined together on either side of one big road and ended ten yards before forest. The Legendary Warriors and their companions found themselves standing in a group and looking towards each other.

"Well, now where do we go?" Tommy wondered aloud. Their main objective of gaining as much distance between them and Grumblemon and Mercurymon was accomplished. However, with their goal completed, now the question that dawned on them was the exact question that Tommy had asked.

"Maybe we should go and find Koji?" suggested Koichi as they began walking out of the station. "If he did that to Akiba Market, something must be wrong with him."

JP raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure if he concurred with Koichi's thoughts on his brother. Koji had been willing to steal their D-tectors and destroy Akiba Market—and maybe even more villages. Who knew how far he was willing to go. "Are you sure that isn't just him?" the Warrior of Thunder stated.

"What?" questioned the rest of the group, causing them to turn towards him.

"I mean, have we ever really met him before here?" JP continued. "The first time we met him, he has been against us."

"JP!" Zoe objected, "Don't you remember when we first met him, he helped us?"

"Yeah, but don't you remember how curt he was?" JP insisted. "He tried stealing our D-tectors but what makes you think that he was only doing that because we weren't obstacles when we didn't have Spirits."

"He hasn't tried to kill us yet, though," Tommy mentioned.

"On the contrary," Strabimon cut in. The other humans looked towards the wolf Digimon that was standing next to Koichi. The boy had his gaze on the floor. "When me and Koichi evolved for the first time, we fought Koji and when he evolved into Devimon, he didn't seem to hesitate on the idea of trying to kill us."

Takuya, Tommy, and Zoe were stunned into silence, uncertain on how they should process the information. JP, however, took the information and added it to his thesis. "If that's the case, then I'm sure he didn't hesitate on killing any of those Digimon in the Akiba Market."

"But…" Koichi protested softly. "I'm sure that isn't Koji! I've followed him around a bit and I haven't seen him once attack anyone."

"Maybe you haven't seen him do it?" suggested Zoe, frowning. "You couldn't have stalked him all the time. There might have been times when he showed his true colors that you haven't seen." Her tone remained uncertain, however, there was a point hidden in the doubt. "I've seen people hold back their true personalities and reveal themselves…" Her sentence trailed off and she looked down away, shamefacedly.

"Oh, come on!" Takuya interrupted, looking at his friends. "We don't know how Koji really is! There's a lot we might not know! This may be his true self or it might not be but who cares right now? Once we get some sense into him, it won't matter!"

"Can we save someone who doesn't want to be saved?" JP challenged, folding his arms.

Takuya glared at him. "JP, stop with this stupid negativity! Of course he does! Stop causing problems already!"

"I'm only trying to point something out!" JP objected.

"It doesn't really sound like it," Takuya retorted.

"I have to agree with the goggle-head on this one," Strabimon commented.

JP looked towards Zoe and Koichi for support, however Zoe wasn't paying attention and Koichi abstained from answering. Then, he turned towards Bokomon and Tommy. The former's answer was a vague agreement with Takuya. Tommy wasn't too sure how to answer.

JP snorted, glaring at them all. "Well, thanks," he muttered. He turned away from them.

"Fine," Takuya stated, his voice still a tad bit loud, "what do you suggest we do then, Mr. Captain?"

"I say we find Koichi's Beast Spirit and defeat Cherubimon," the Warrior of Thunder answered angrily. He didn't turn back towards them. He didn't want them to see how hurt he really was. _Just like back at home_, he thought, _no one here truly understands my point and jump all over me about it._

Suddenly, a ringing sounded from their pockets. The humans pulled out their D-tectors and looked at them, thankful that it was something to distract them from the tension. When they saw a familiar symbol on the screen as the one that told them to head towards the Forest Terminal. Remembering the conversation they had with Seraphimon all those weeks ago, they could finally place the name of Ophanimon on the mysterious woman's voice.

"Head to the Rose Morning Star," she said, in an urgent tone.

"Ophanimon, where is the Rose Morning Star?" asked Takuya. He knew they needed a little more information than that.

"What's at the Rose Morning Star?" added Zoe. "Is that where you are?"

"Do you know anyway that can help save my brother?" Koichi inquired. Ophanimon maybe knew something that could help them. He hoped that he could hear that he was brainwashed or under a trance even if it was silly.

"Koichi," JP sighed but bit back the rest of his sentence. He didn't want another fight to breakout and end with him being cornered again.

The voice didn't answer. "Koichi Kimura," she finally answered, breaking the silence, "remember to keep believing."

Koichi gazed down at the device in his hand. What kind of advice was that? "Remember to keep believing"? How can that help him? It was too vague. The boy wanted to press for more. "Is there anything more?" he asked, his voice becoming rushed, almost demanding. "Is there something I have to destroy? A set of words to say? Is this really who he is?" _No, he can't be like this,_ Koichi denied.

The voice didn't answer and the symbol then faded, along with the connection. Koichi almost dropped his D-tector in frustration. "Geh," he muttered, angrily stuffing his D-tector into his pocket.

Takuya, Zoe, Tommy, JP, Strabimon, Bokomon, and Neemon watched him for a silent moment.

"Hey, we'll figure something out," Takuya said, putting his own D-tector in his pocket.

"Or maybe we can get back in touch with Ophanimon?" suggested Tommy. "Maybe there's a redial button on here?"

"Tommy, it's not a cell phone," Zoe said, pocketing hers as well. "Well, at least we have a new destination," she added, changing the topic.

"True," added Bokomon, pulling out his book. "Now, where did Ophanimon say it was?"

"I believe it was the Venus Rose," Neemon said.

"The Rose Morning Star," corrected JP.

Bokomon began flipping through his book as they walked for somewhere to sit, taking a few seats around a café table. While waiting for Bokomon's information, a small Digimon took their order. While waiting, the humans began talking of what they might find at the Rose Morning Star. Koichi abstained from speaking and instead looked like he was brooding.

During the conversation, Takuya's eyes kept flying towards Koichi. His face was averted from the others, staring at nothing in particular. Normally, Koichi would at least throw in one or two lines but his lack of even paying attention frustrated Takuya to no end. Finally, he interrupted JP and nearly shouted at Koichi. "Oh, come on Koichi. You can't just sulk forever!"

The dark haired boy turned to look over at the goggle-head and was met by an exasperated Takuya, who tapped his finger against the table impatiently. Koichi shifted in his seat and looked away. "Sorry," he sighed.

"You really aren't helping yourself when you hold your feelings to yourself as if they're a lifejacket," Takuya interrupted, pulling off his hat. "It's so damn annoying."

Koichi sighed again. "This…I have this power but I don't know how to use it to save my brother," he confessed. "It's…it's just so frustrating."

"I know what you mean," Zoe said, pulling out her D-tector. "I remember feeling frustrated that I couldn't help anyone when I had lost my Spirits to that dofus Grumblemon. You really aren't alone in this."

Koichi remained silent. _But it isn't the same_, Koichi said to himself, looking down the road again.

Takuya gritted his teeth. Tommy looked between Takuya and Koichi, frowning. He had never seen the two boys fight (though he wasn't too sure if he could classify this as a fight).

JP turned his gaze away from the group and towards the building where their grub was being made. "I wonder how long it's going to be," he said aloud.

"Way to break the tension," muttered Zoe, rolling her eyes as she put her D-tector away. She looked over at Bokomon to see how the information hunt was going when she noticed the pale look on Bokomon's face. How long had he been like that? "You okay?" she asked.

"It's in the Dark Continent," Bokomon stated with a fearful tone.

"What's so bad about the Dark Continent?" asked Strabimon. Just as he said that, a waiter brought them their food but the humans were far more interested in Bokomon's newly found information.

Bokomon placed the book on the table and pointed to a map that must've been just exclusively for the place that struck fear into Bokomon's heart. "The Rose Morning Star is located in the Dark Continent. The Dark Continent is covered in clouds all day that hides its mysteries. And the dangers! There are just as many dangers shrouded in the dark lands as there are mysteries!"

"Like what?" Tommy inquired, interested. He took a bite of his burger as he stared at the book, shivering slightly.

Bokomon fell silent. "Well…there isn't any information written about it in the book," he explained, flipping the page to show a page spread of empty paper. He flipped it over again and those pages too were empty.

"Weird," Takuya said.

"I'd second that," JP and Zoe agreed.

Bokomon closed his book and put it away. "According to rumors, all those who went in have never came out. Also, I heard that's where Cherubimon also resides."

"Well, that's where we're supposed to go," Strabimon said. "We're going. Who really cares about these 'dangers' that are mentioned."

"And if Cherubimon is there, we have no other choice but to go," Zoe said.

"Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained," added Takuya. "Maybe we'll be the first to get out?"

JP frowned. It didn't sound like a good idea but he decided to not state his opinion this time. That's where they had to go, so there was no way around it.

"Are you all crazy?" Bokomon cried, waving his hands in the air.

They ignored Bokomon's question. "So, what's the quickest way there?" asked Takuya.

Bokomon's eyes fell down to the table. "There's no way I'm going to win this one?" he mumbled to himself. His voice rose audibly before he continued: "The best way there is by Trailmon, though I doubt that they'll take us that far."

"Well, we have to try," Tommy said. "It makes sense, right? Even if it's scary…"

Takuya patted the younger boy's back. "Don't worry, we've overcome everything thrown at us so far."

"With the setbacks," added JP. Takuya gave him a look of annoyance.

"What's with your negativity?" the goggle-head inquired, agitated.

"Sorry," JP muttered, deciding to drop the topic. He bit into his hamburger and swallowed.

Everyone finished theirs and shortly, the waiter came to collect the tab. "What do you mean you don't have money for paying for the food?" exclaimed the waiter. He looked just about angry enough to attack with whatever attack this specific Digimon had.

"We'd be happy to pay for it through chores," Zoe piped up.

The waiter glanced over at the blond, skeptically. "We'll see what we can have you do," muttered the waiter, stalking off, most likely to find its manager.

JP leaned over to Zoe. "You sure that's a good idea to just stay here?" he inquired with a frown. They had managed to get some distance away from Mercurymon and Grumblemon and with their head start, they could probably be a decent way to the Dark Continent before they were confronted by any of the other enemy Warriors.

"JP, we can't just split," Takuya said.

JP frowned. "Well, we can't just stay here…there are more important things than paying the tabs around here, ya know."

"But it's rude!" Zoe exclaimed.

JP then relented. "Fine."

Bokomon dropped down from his chair. "While you guys do work, I'll go see if we can get Trailmon tickets to the Dark Continent," he said. "Come, Neemon."

"Wait, but I thought we didn't have any money," Tommy said slowly.

"Yes but Datamon had happened to drop some extra money and I think it should be enough for quite a few passes."

The five humans and one Digimon watched Bokomon go angrily. They were all ready to gang up on him but the waiter and his manager had come, cutting off their chance. Bokomon would be killed later: they needed him to read the book and more inform them about the world they were in.

X::::::::::X

It was sunset when the children were done with the various chores they were assigned in the kitchen. JP sighed as they walked out. He hadn't worked that much in his life. His family was fairly rich but that didn't mean that he was exempted from small chores like dishes and cleaning his room, it was just he wasn't used to doing a day's worth in a restaurant by _hand_. Fortunately, Koichi and Zoe helped, so it wasn't so hard but it didn't keep him from internally complaining. The dishes were at least something to focus his energy on that could have been used to wringing the little gnome's neck (assuming that Strabimon or Takuya didn't get to him first).

On that, JP stopped. Where was Bokomon? "Shouldn't he be here by now?" he wondered aloud.

"You mean Bokomon?" inquired Takuya, slipping his gloves back on and shoving them into his pockets. He still must've been agitated about the gnome too.

"Maybe he's at the station," suggested Tommy before adding, "but it doesn't take that long…"

"Bokomon and Neemon must be getting supplies," Zoe said, resting her hands on her hips. "Not sure if we really need anymore, though…"

"Or maybe he's hiding," Strabimon inputted.

"Might be a good idea with you, Grumpy Pooch," said Takuya.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Oh boys, don't start now."

"We should probably go and find him," Koichi suggested. "They're probably in some sort of trouble for all we know."

"I agree with Koichi," JP stated.

The Flame Warrior sighed. "All right," he said. "We'll meet here in about an hour."

"Make that a half hour," interrupted Strabimon. His eyes were fixed on the sky on a set of thick clouds that were moving overhead and his ears tucked back against his head. "A storm is coming."

JP looked up at the anxiously clouds himself. _I hope it doesn't turn into a thunderstorm,_ he thought. The Warrior of Thunder turned back towards his friends but found that they had already split up and were out of sight. JP inwardly sighed. _Again…_

He shook his head, turning his thoughts to the task at hand. Where could Bokomon and Neemon be? His gaze went down towards the forest. "Maybe there was something down there?" he mumbled to himself. He began heading down the main street, passing various Digimon.

He entered the forest, looking around. He called out the two missing Digimon.

No answer.

"Bokomon! Neemon!"

Again, no answer.

JP took a few more steps before stopping. "They're not out here," he sighed. _Or maybe they just don't wanting to be found. _JP shook his head. He put on a determined face. "Fine, we'll play a game of hide and seek!" JP shouted angrily. "You hide and I'll seek. Neemon, I'm sure this is your dumb idea!"

JP ignored the silence that he met. He wouldn't let it get to him. Deep in his gut, he still felt lonely but JP would stand, resolute, against it. He refused to accept that he was lonely, trying to mentally distance himself from the feeling with every step he tread on the forest floor.

A crack reached his ears, making him stop, stock-still. He listened carefully. Was someone coming?

"Bokomon? That you?" he asked aloud. He hoped for a voice but instead was met by the rolling of thunder. JP jumped, a terrified scream started escaping from his lips but he clamped a hand over his mouth to cut it short. He fell to his knees, hunched over and shivering. A longing for home filled him carried by the wind that was beginning to pick up.

"Oh, you all alone, righ'," a voice said caustically.

JP dared look up. There, he found a familiar form of a wooden doll Digimon: Arbormon. JP frowned. "Weren't you buried under all that rock?" he shouted.

Arbormon simply shrugged. "Why ya all alone? Your friends leave ya?"

JP was taken aback for a minute. Why was an enemy asking why he was alone? "Why? You going to attack me because I'm alone? What a coward!" he shouted. Mentally, he wanted to take that back. After all, it was a good idea on their part…

"Your friends did leave ya, righ'?" Arbormon asked but JP could have sworn that it sounded more like a statement. "Threw ya away like yesterday's trash?"

JP clenched his teeth. "Just shut up!" he shouted. "They wouldn't do that!"

Arbormon shook his finger. "You know that for a fact, right'?" he asked sarcastically. "You and I aren't so different."

JP stood. He had enough of the chitchat. He grabbed his D-tector and Spirit Evolved right into Beetlemon. He raised a hand and called upon the lightning from the clouds. It ran into his hand and Beetlemon ran at Arbormon that easily used a detachable limb to catch the electrified hand and flipping him into a tree.

"Yer friends don't want you," Arbormon said. "Always left out and left alone."

Beetlemon got to his feet. "We're not the same!" he denied. True he was left out at times… True he was ganged up on at times…

Arbormon took advantage of Beetlemon's hesitation, hitting him with a roundhouse kick and sending him into another tree that toppled down on top of him. His armor had taken much of the brute force of the collisions but it left his back sore, most likely bruised. Beetlemon began pushing himself up.

Extra weight was suddenly added onto his back, making him collapse. "Ya know, yer right. There is one thing that is different between us: you can't survive without friends, righ'? You're weak."

JP gripped the grass and pulled up at it. Overhead, a thunder roared overhead. JP flinched. Just like before… _Even with this armor,_ he thought, _am I still a coward? I thought I could change that…_ JP bit his lip and fought the tears that threatened to flow from his eyes but he failed as a single tear leaked from the corner of his eye.

"Ya know the rule of the world, righ'? Only the strong survive," Arbormon said.

"NO! SLIDE EVOLUTION!"

He shed his armor in favor of the Beast Spirit's power. It was stronger and almost nothing physical could penetrate it. A fool would only hope that words couldn't pierce the armor.

MetalKabuterimon turned his body, noting the wooden doll Digimon that had seemed so big before. "Who's weak now?" he taunted. He couldn't help but do it. He just couldn't.

Arbormon took several steps back and Slide Evolved into a large wooden lizard with a mane of leaves. "Thorn Jab!" Petaldramon called, plunging his tale into the ground. Suddenly, roots began growing around the tank Digimon.

MetalKabuterimon threw himself into reverse to escape the snares, snapping the roots and toppling trees as he went.

Petaldramon rose onto his hind legs, the leaves on his main beginning to spin around. "Leaf Cyclone!" A whirlwind of leaves encircled MetalKabuterimon but the wind and leaves didn't even bother JP under the exoskeleton. He simply took aim with the two cannons on his arms and filled them with energy.

"Bolo Thunder!" he shouted.

The attack must've hit hard as he soon heard the snapping of wood. The whirlwind dissipated and MetalKabuterimon found himself alone again. He dared not de-evolve. He glanced around for his opponent but he was nowhere in sight. "Come on out, you coward!"

"JP! Is that you?" shouted a voice from behind him.

MetalKabuterimon turned his line of vision towards Bokomon and Neemon, who were both hiding behind a tree. "Why are you evolved in your Beast Spirit? And who are you talking to?"

MetalKabuterimon ignored him, Slide Evolving down to Beetlemon before storming over to the two. "Where the hell have you two been?" he shouted. Before either of them could answer, he picked them both up by their waistbands.

"Ah! Careful of the egg!" Bokomon called, flailing his arms before clenching them on the blue egg.

"Where are we going?" Neemon asked.

"Oh, shut it," he muttered. JP began flying towards the Burgermon Village. He ignored Bokomon's questions, too angry to even want to listen. All he wanted to do now was get moving so he wouldn't have to deal with this stupid world anymore!

**Chapter 20: End.**


	22. Chapter 21: A Shot In the Dark

**A/N: Thank you Martiny, Immortal Fallen Radiance, shipperboyx, and Stelra Etnae for reviewing. :) Ahem. New chapter! Schools and tests are ending for some, beginning for others. I'm here to hopefully offer some sort of reward/break for those reading this story. Anyway, title borrowed from the same song by Within Temptation (awesome as hell song! X3)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier. Now, shush! It's getting good!**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 21: Shot In The Dark

The eight had taken the Trailmon. JP had began acting moody and it left Takuya to wonder why. One hour after they had split to find Bokomon and Neemon, JP had just been grouchy and easily annoyed, heavily reminding the leader of a certain wolf Digimon (and they really didn't need another one). Strabimon was acting differently though. Instead of any smart-ass quips, he remained silent. In fact, Strabimon was acting more like Zoe when she went into her daydreams.

Koichi, on the other hand, had gotten into a better mood. He wasn't as frustrated—at least not outwardly that Takuya could tell. Takuya was glad that someone had gotten better over their three-day ride.

The Trailmon raced through forest and wasteland and now was coming up on the ocean and a long trek of land that led towards a large ominous mass of darkness. Tommy and Takuya looked out the windows of the Trailmon to get a better glimpse of the place.

"It looks kind of creepy," Tommy said, his voice low.

"Don't worry, buddy," Takuya comforted, "things will be all right as long as we keep doing what we do."

"Running headlong into danger?" inquired JP from his seat.

Takuya looked back at the older boy. A frown deepened on the Flame Warrior's face. "Why do you even speak if you're being so pessimistic?" he demanded. Takuya was annoyed with his bad temper and was far from willing to let him continue, even if it meant that he'd get into a fistfight.

"Because, it's true," JP retorted, glaring at him.

"What's with you, JP?"

"Oh boy, here we go again," Tommy's voice squeaked. "Come on, guys. We shouldn't be fighting."

"That's just how life works, kid," JP said, turning his glare towards the younger Ice Warrior. Tommy didn't shrink back but frowned with a questioning look.

"JP, just please stop," Koichi spoke up. "Tommy's right."

"So am I."

"Get the hell off your high horse, JP!" Takuya shouted, his temper rising.

"Boys!" Zoe cried, getting up and stepping between them. "Why are we fighting like this?"

"Because blue boy started it," Takuya muttered, folding his arms and looking away. Why was it his fault to?

"I was just merely pointing something out," JP added, doing the same as the younger boy.

Takuya could hear the blonde give an aggravated sigh. "Both of you boys are acting like eight-year-olds! Even Tommy is more mature than this!" she exclaimed. "I don't hear Koichi or Strabimon picking fights."

"Zoe, please don't wrangle me any farther into this one," Koichi said, holding up his hands.

"Oh, what am I now? I'm supposed to be a cowering little child? 'Koji? I must save Koji!'" JP began taunting. Takuya snapped his head back in JP's general direction. What the _hell _was his problem?

With this, Strabimon acted. He jumped up, leapt passed Zoe and had a good hole on JP's shirt, an attack poised to be released at any moment, all done in one fluid movement. "That's about enough," Strabimon muttered, his tone taking on a dangerous warning with the likes they hadn't seen since the last time Takuya and the Digimon had gotten into a fight. "Now, you'll stop being a piss ant and just shut up. I'm sick of all this complaining, ya got that?"

Something in that threat left the older boy quiet. His look was a mix of fear and foolish pride. The other occupants of the Trailmon compartment were left stunned and in silence. Takuya was the only one who even dared open his mouth.

"Wow," was all he could say.

"Shut up, Takuya," Strabimon warned, leaving the older boy and heading back to his seat.

_What the hell did I do?_ he was left to wonder. He wanted to argue but decided that fighting with the pissed dog wasn't a good idea. So, the Trailmon continued in silence.

Takuya grew tired of the silence and turned his head out of the window, watching the waves that were only a few feet from the tracks. They lapped at the small isle in a slow and consistent rhythm. The Flame Warrior found it relaxing and soothing. His mind wandered back to some of his summer trips to the beach with his family when he was younger. Those had always been simpler times, even when he and his brother fought. _Are he, Mom, and Dad doing all right?_ He thought to himself. Takuya hadn't really given his family much thought after being caught up in his adventures, fighting Cherubimon's goons and protecting his friends.

Takuya frowned, growing drowsy from watching the waves. _I should probably apologize to Mom and Dad,_ he thought to himself. He could feel himself begin drifting off to sleep when the train Digimon suddenly came to a stop, causing Takuya and everyone else to give cries of surprise as they fell forwards into their seats.

They straightened themselves out and got up to look out the windows. "Hey, what's the hold up?" called JP, agitated.

"End of the line, kids," the Trailmon answered.

"End of the line?" Zoe repeated, looking out the window and examining the line before them. "There's no station around here."

"Yeah," agreed Koichi. "They seem to go on for miles."

"Very observant but when I say it's the end of the line, it's the end of the line," the Trailmon said stubbornly.

"But we have to go that way!" Takuya called, "So, move the caboose!"

"Fine, if you want to go into certain death, by no means, doesn't let me stand in the way." The wall that Takuya was resting against began moving up, causing the gogglehead, Koichi, and Tommy to back away in surprise. Then the floor of the car began sloping upwards. The children and Digimon tried holding on to the seats but ended up falling to the ground in heaps. "So, let me wish you the best of luck and be on my way. Good luck!" With that, the Trailmon began backing away as fast as he could, leaving the five humans and their Digimon companions.

"Well, that just sucks," muttered JP.

"Well, at least it got us here," Tommy spoke up.

"Everyone okay?" called Koichi.

"Yeah," Takuya said, standing and looking towards the dark clouds. "So, that's the Continent of Darkness?"

"Yes," Bokomon said, walking forwards. "Just beyond the Dark Gates is the Continent of Darkness." He remained silent, looking down and rubbing the egg. "Are you sure you want to go?"

"Yeah," the group chorused, much to Takuya's surprised. Takuya looked back to see JP, Zoe, Tommy, and Koichi all standing in a circle, staring at their destination, just beyond the gates. They all had looks of a mixture of nervousness and determination.

Takuya smiled. "Things won't be too bad," he said cheerily. "We've gotten out of rough places before all intact."

"But we should still go in caution," JP said.

"Yeah," agreed Zoe and Koichi.

"All right," Bokomon said, biting his lip. "I'll go…"

"Maybe you can write about what we've seen," Tommy suggested to Bokomon. "You said that no one's been there, so, you'll be the first."

Bokomon's eyes glistened slightly. "Yeah, you're right, Tommy," he said. "I'll write a story of the adventures of the humans that saved the Digital World!"

"Will," Takuya corrected with a smirk. "How about you wait 'til we beat Cherubimon before you make any deals with publishers."

With that, the group began walking.

X::::::::::X

"This place is creepy!" shrieked Bokomon. The little gnome jumped when he heard something above them and had latched onto Strabimon's leg.

Strabimon looked down at the Digimon. "That was just the wind," he said, annoyance apparent in his voice. "That goes for all of you!"

Takuya heard nervous laughs escape from Koichi and JP as they too had ducked and covered when they heard the rustling of the wind.

"Sorry about that," Zoe sighed, helping Koichi up. When she had jumped, she had grabbed a hold of the dark haired boy and accidentally knocked both of them to the ground. Koichi accepted the hand up and dusted his butt off.

They had been in the dark lands for long enough for their eyes to adjust to the major lack of light in the dense forest. They had fortunately found a path that wasn't so thick and allowed them to see better, though it wasn't by too much.

Suddenly, Tommy pointed ahead. "Hey! There's something glowing up there!" he shouted, before running towards it.

"Smart idea," mumbled JP. "Hasn't he ever heard of the anglerfish?"

"Oh, come off it, JP," Takuya muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes and following the boy. They ran through a small line of trees and came upon the source of the green light: moss. "Hey! Great find, Tommy!" Takuya congratulated, scooping some up. He looked back and added, "Right, JP?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever," the older boy muttered, picking up the moss as well.

"Glowing moss?" Bokomon wondered aloud. "I've read about glowing rocks but never glowing moss."

"That's something you can add to your book then, Bokomon," Zoe said.

With the glowing moss, navigating the trail was easier and it gave them a strange peace-of-mind. Soon, they found themselves right under a cliff and in front of a cave, almost too perfect to be made by nature (as Koichi was quick to point out). Upon checking, they found that no one was.

"How about we get going?" suggested Bokomon, his voice trembling. "Strange things happen around caves…"

"Who's there?" shouted Strabimon, spinning around and alarming the others.

"Who's there?" called an answer.

"Show yourself!" demanded Takuya, automatically tensing. His hand automatically went to his pocket where his D-tector was located.

"Show yourself!" the same voice echoed. Then it was echoed by a second voice. Then a third.

"What are you? Some kind of parrot?" JP yelled.

"Some kind of parrot?" something else echoed.

Sick of being in the dark on who was out there, Strabimon threw his mass of moss. The sudden brightness startled some kind of winged creature, causing it to fly towards them. They ducked as whatever it was swooped over them and into the cave. They sprang up only to stop themselves upon seeing three bat-looking Digimon hanging upside down from the cave roof and grooming themselves.

"Oh! Those are Pipsimon!" Bokomon exclaimed, sighing with relief. "They're supposed to be docile, but very annoying at times. They were the ones that were mimicking us, since they're only able to communicate that way, for some reason."

"Pest? I'd say they're adorable!" Zoe said, a smile spreading across her face.

"Shinya would scream and run," Takuya said, almost laughing to himself. His younger brother never liked bats.

"Maybe this place isn't so bad, huh, Bokomon?" asked Koichi.

"Maybe you're right," agreed the gnome Digimon with a serene look as they watched the Pipsimon repeat what they said to them.

"I finally find you!" called a voice behind them. The group span around only to be startled as a hammer crashed into the ground before them. After reclaiming their poise, they glared at Grumblemon.

"Well, I thought we put enough distance between us and this idiot," muttered Strabimon, looking towards Koichi. The boy nodded and readied his D-tector. The rest of the humans did the same, Spirit Evolving and Beast Spirit Evolving.

"Grumblemon want Spirit back!" he cried. "This time, Grumblemon come with backup!" Grumblemon pulled out several glass bottles and threw them at the earth and with a short chant, from the ground, four Golemon appeared from the earth.

KorKorikkakumon, Tommy's Beast Spirit, bowed down, folding his hands. "Tommy," asked BurningGreymon, "you think you can control it?"

"Yeah," the boy answered, raising and grabbing the two axes by his feet. The yeti Digimon raised them.

"So, genius, I get to take care of Grumblemon," MetalKabuterimon called. "I have unfinished business with this moron."

"Over my dead body," BurningGreymon called back, flying forwards. "You blew your chance to take care of him."

Zephyrmon rolled her eyes as she snuffed out a Volcanic Plume attack with her own wind attacks. "Boys," she muttered.

Korikkakumon and Gargoylemon went to fight their own respective Golemon, leaving one to whoever was able to switch out to get it. The Golemon were much easier to deal with than they had remembered, though their Volcanic Plume attacks still hit hard and their fists hit even harder but Zephyrmon was able to dodge much quicker than she probably could as Kazemon. Korikkakumon may have lost his ability to dodge but he ended up gaining strength to make up for the loss, allowing him to catch the fists and throw his own Golemon into another. This gave Gargoylemon the chance to use his Statue Bomber attack to hit them hard enough to crumble through some of their armor.

Meanwhile, BurningGreymon and MetalKabuterimon were far busier dodging friendly fire than their own opponent's attacks. "Watch where you're firing that, JP!" commanded BurningGreymon.

"Then get the hell out of the way!" answered MetalKabuterimon. "Bolo Thunder!"

BurningGreymon flew higher into the air to dodge the attack that was aimed at Grumblemon behind him. Grumblemon too dodged the attack by scrambling into the earth. "Damn, I missed!" JP cursed.

BurningGreymon ignored him, scanning the ground below his feet. Then, he spotted the Warrior of Earth poke his head from below the rock. Like an owl hunting a rabbit, the dragon Digimon swooped down, grabbing him with his front claws and flying upwards. He rose higher as Grumblemon struggled in his claws but BurningGreymon kept a firm grip. No way in hell he'd let this pest go.

BurningGreymon then threw him upwards with all his might and readied his arm cannons. "Pyro Barrage!" he called, unleashing the fiery bullets. They connected hard, forcing Grumblemon's Fractal Code to appear. BurningGreymon was about to Slide Evolve to get the Fractal Code but a blue object knocked him aside.

BurningGreymon crashed into the earth, turning back into his human self. Takuya forced himself up, his back aching from his land. He looked upwards to see Beetlemon descending down from the sky staring down at his D-tector that was in his hands. "Finally," he said before turning back into his human form.

Takuya narrowed his eyes. He couldn't believe JP's nerve! _What is that bastard's problem?_ He thought to himself.

"You okay, Takuya?" asked Koichi, offering a hand to him. Takuya's concentration broke and he turned towards the dark haired boy. He took it and stood up. He could also hear Zephyrmon's voice rising in an almost yell, demanding what his problem was.

"Things are really different," a bemused voice called towards them. The humans and Digimon turned their heads towards the source of the voice. There, Koji stood, his hands in his pockets with his smirking Gazimon partner. "What happened to that 'let's work together' theme you kids always had?"

"Koji," Takuya could hear the boy breathe.

"Koji, we need to talk," Takuya shouted. "You're doing something you don't want to do."

"No," Koji answered, voice devoid of emotion, "this is exactly what I want." He turned to Gazimon, who turned into a swirl of Fractal Code and merged with Koji with a cry of "Spirit Evolution." The two became a giant demon like creature. Takuya felt a shiver run up his spine and his hair stand on end. So, this was Koji's Evolution…

He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to be daydreaming. They'd had to fight or run. He pulled out his D-tector, Spirit Evolving into Agunimon. Everyone else followed suit. "We have to be careful!" Gargoylemon warned.

"No promises," Beetlemon responded.

"JP!"

"How strong are you really?" Devimon asked, his wings beginning to glow with dark energy.

"Koji, just listen to me, please!" Gargoylemon called desperately.

"My name is Devimon! Lazer Wing!" Devimon flapped his wings and scars of dark energy flew from them. The group dodged it. A small crater appeared where the attack had hit—or where they would have been.

"He has so much power," Takuya heard Zephyrmon gasp in a whisper.

Takuya turned his head towards Devimon. _Okay, he's stronger than I thought he'd be._ He Slide Evolved and called for Zoe to cover him. The harpy Digimon did so, using her wind attack to whip up the loose soil to give BurningGreymon a cover. BurningGreymon entered it and unleashing a punch where Devimon was. He couldn't see anything but his heart sank when he felt a hand wrap around his fist and the next thing he knew, BurningGreymon found himself flipped on his back and his friends around him.

"Guys, go get him!" BurningGreymon said, trying to blink the stars out of his eyes.

Gargoylemon, Beetlemon, Zephyrmon, and Kumamon did so, with the white Digimon in the lead. He punched him and then their own respective close range attacks followed. BurningGreymon finally forced himself up, his eyes not as spotty. He looked at his comrades and saw that they were looking around wildly and Devimon not there. _Where did he—?_

"Dark Contract!"

The four dodged a cloud of kanji that exploded when it hit the ground, making another small crater in the ground. Devimon floated down only several feet from the hole. "You're all weak and not even worth the power of the Spirits."

Takuya gritted his teeth. How dare he! "Oh yeah?" Takuya shouted, rising. Sure, he was Koichi's brother and he needed the sense beaten into him but Takuya never said that he wouldn't _literally_ beat him. Devimon looked at him, bored. "I'll show you our worth!" the dragon called, allowing his feelings to transform into the flames that spurted from his armor and then covered his body. "Wildfire Tsunami!" He roared and flicked his tail, sending the flames in a column towards the devil Digimon. He didn't even move and was consumed by the flames.

Takuya found himself smirking. He had done it!

"Takuya, we need to get out of here!" called Gargoylemon. BurningGreymon looked at him. "Why?" he wanted to ask. Gargoylemon's voice was full of reluctance with his own idea. As if sensing the leader's question, Gargoylemon simply answered, "Just trust me!"

Takuya gave in and they ran.

X::::::::::X

Once a good, safe distance away, they de-evolved and Takuya turned towards his friend. "Why did we have to run, Koichi? I'm sure that my attack hurt him enough to de-evolve! Isn't that what you want?"

Koichi nodded. "He's just too strong," Strabimon said. "Something is different from the last time Koichi and I fought him."

"It's…" Koichi began before pausing, unsure how to continue his statement.

"As what, Koichi?" Zoe gently pressed.

"It's as if something dark has taken root in him. As if he lost all of his humanity," he explained. "The first time we fought, Koji had a hard time. He seemed more careful but here, he's not holding back. I don't know if that's the Koji I would have met…" Koichi's sentence trailed off as he looked down, crestfallen.

Takuya snorted. "Koichi, remember what I said? All he needs is the sense beaten into him!"

Koichi looked up. "Takuya, you don't understand!" he shouted, his voice still desperate. "I want to save my brother but there's something else there!"

"We'll figure it out," Takuya said, now slightly annoyed that Koichi was acting this way. They had defeated Grumblemon as a team; they had kicked Ranamon's butt too many times to count. What was Koichi thinking that they couldn't handle Koji in his Devimon form? Sure it wouldn't be easy but they'd be able to do it. "Next time we see him, we'll be sure to save him."

"Are those goggles on too tight, Takuya?" asked JP, stepping forwards and crossing his arms. Takuya rolled his eyes, already knowing what was coming. "We can't do it without a plan and Koichi is right about this one."

Takuya shook his head. "It would only be a matter of time," he sighed. "I know we need a plan but now is the perfect chance! Who knows when we'll next see him!"

"Fine, give me one good plan and we'll do this stupid rescue mission."

"Fine," Takuya said, excepting the challenge.

"Maybe in the meanwhile, we should find somewhere to eat?" Bokomon suggested.

X::::::::::X

The group had split up. Tommy went with Takuya to find something to eat while JP, Zoe, and Koichi gathered firewood and Strabimon prepared the fire. While picking foods that looked like giant walnuts, a plan came to Takuya. He grinned and told his younger companion. He took in the plan and agreed it was a good idea. With heightened confidence, the two went back to the campsite and began introducing the plan.

"This is how it'll work," he began, pulling stones and sticks from the ground and organizing them. He assigned a black stone as Devimon and sat it in the ground before him. "I'll be as Agunimon and I'll draw his attention to me. While he's distracted, everyone else will attack at once." He put a stick right in front of the 'Devimon' stone.

"We already did that, though," Zoe pointed out, disappointed in his plan so far.

"Yeah," agreed the others.

"Hey! Just wait!" Takuya called. He picked up a few more sticks and stones, assigning them different names: Gargoylemon, Zephyrmon, MetalKabuterimon, and Korikkakumon. "The problem with doing what you guys did before was that you didn't surround him and everyone wasn't in their Beast Spirit forms. Zephyrmon and Gargoylemon should be in back because they can catch Devimon quicker if he tries to escape. Ta-dah! What do you think?"

The rest of the group looked at each other. "It's an okay plan, I guess…" Zoe said, still unsure.

"But didn't Devimon easily throw you as _BurningGreymon_?" spoke Strabimon.

"I was taken by surprise!" Takuya quickly answered. "I now know what we're doing and what we're up against."

Koichi frowned. "No, you don't," he said. "Koji…it's…."

"Koichi, it's a really good plan, though!" Tommy piped up. Koichi frowned but then nodded. JP didn't seem too disappointed in the plan.

X::::::::::X

It wasn't too long before they could execute it. Devimon came at them only an hour later; they were ready. They quickly Spirit and Beast Spirit Evolved. The four got ready to rush to their designated places while Agunimon ran into battle.

"You again," Devimon said.

"Yeah and this time, I'm taking you down! Pyro Punch!" Agunimon unleashed a barrage of flaming punches. He stopped when Devimon knocked him aside with a sweep of his arm. The Flame Warrior sprang back to his feet, slightly shocked that his attacks were doing anything. _How?_

"Pathetic."

He shook the initial shock off and raced back in. "Pyro Tornado!" The roundhouse kick connected with a wing but Devimon remained steady and standing. _N…no way…_ Then he remembered the plan. Devimon snapped his wing open and Agunimon went tumbling to the side. Then, he raced back into battle, his hands burning with fire.

Devimon swept his hand again. "Is this all you have?"

Agunimon ducked down and came back up behind Devimon. He brought his arms up, holding his opponent similar to how JP had to prevent him from getting into a fight with Strabimon. "Now!" he shouted.

Everyone was already in position. He listened to them calling out their own attacks and leaped out of the way last minute. The attacks collided where Devimon stood. Agunimon landed and looked up, his pride at finally getting Devimon left him. The demon Digimon was still standing, his wings had protected him from the damage.

Takuya's heart sank. Now, he finally realized what he had gotten himself into. "N…no way…" he heard himself choke. Devimon then turned towards him, claws glowing with dark energy.

"This is the end for you, humans."

Then he leapt.

Takuya just stood staring. This was Koji? Was this was the real Koji? He had truly never got to know the boy but he didn't seem so bad…but now…Maybe JP and Koichi were right! Maybe he was different. _He's going to kill me._ Agunimon couldn't move. Fear paralyzed him as the dead hand reached for his stomach to pierce his armor. He was going to die. That was that. He squeezed his eyes closed, bracing for the pain.

It never came.

No, instead, a scream of pain ran throughout his ears. It wasn't his own. Agunimon opened an eye cautiously only to gasp. A blob of white; it was Koichi and Strabimon. _No,_ he thought. In a spiral of data, the two separated and fell to the ground.

"Koichi!" he heard himself scream. "Strabimon!" How did it get like this? Why had he been such an idiot? Why was he so damn cocky? Agunimon scooped the boy up and looked at Strabimon. He shook the unconscious body. Wait, was he unconscious? Was he dead? How could he tell? What if he was critically wounded? Was there something like a hospital around here? _How do Digimon heal themselves? Could they do that here too? Was he dead? Dead? Dead?_

The next thing that happened was a blur for Takuya. The next thing he could even hear was a scream of pain and his vision becoming black, as if someone had just turned out the lights. The screams that followed only unnerved him even more.

What was happening? Why wasn't he—? A jolt of pain coursed through his body, causing him to cry out. It was something he couldn't even describe. Thinking coherently was hard. Vision blurred. Then…

He couldn't feel anymore. The game was over.

**Chapter 21: End.**

**You just lost, Taki. As for Strabimon acting strange in the beginning of the chapter, I'll be sure to have an oneshot to cover it. God, going over episode 21 for inspiration makes me wish I didn't let JP become such a jerk in these later chapters. :(**


	23. Chapter 22: Takuya, You're Far From Home

**A/N: Thanks to Martiny, Immortal Fallen Radiance, DustinWhitewind, darkhaseo90, shadowlur13, Stelra Etnae, and madjack89 for reviewing. Thank you everyone for the 100 reviews! Everyone gets cyber cookies! :3 And one more thing: there are (about) TEN CHAPTERS LEFT! Whoo!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT and will NOT own Digimon. **

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 22: Takuya, You're Far From Home

_What did I do wrong?_

Takuya found himself waking up. Or, maybe he wasn't waking up? Maybe this was death… Could he have really died in the Digital World, though? He remembered Bokomon saying that Digimon were reborn after having their Fractal Codes scanned. Many times before, he had seen a small collection of data that was compacted into a small egg fly off into the sky. Could that have happened to him? And the others?

Takuya shook his head. No, he didn't deserve to be reincarnated. He had been stupid, foolish. His stupid plan, his rushing into battle so eagerly, had gotten Koichi and Strabimon hurt in his stead and everyone else was probably even killed by Koji's hands.

No, he was Devimon now. Koji was no longer human; he had no right to be called by his human name. He had been willing to kill them so willingly…Zoe, Tommy, JP, Strabimon, his own brother… Koji had lost his humanity.

"But…it's all my fault," he reminded himself, guilty tears threatening to flood down his face. The distraught boy tried to fight them back but the remorse was too much. It was all too much. He screamed, falling to his hands and knees. Takuya pounded the ground in frustration. "If…" he sniffed, squeezing his eyes shut and his body lowered itself to bury the sinner's face and hide his shame, "if I wasn't so stupid! W-why was I chosen for the Sprit of Fire?"

"You wish to go back?" inquired a slow voice.

Takuya snapped his eyes open and quickly turned his head towards the source of the voice. Two glowing orbs caught his attention, making him shiver. What was it? Was it another one of Cherubimon's goons? "If you're here for the Sprits, you can have them," Takuya said, rising. He didn't want to fight anymore. He had no point to fight now.

More lights filled the darkness, finally revealing that Takuya was far from where he last remembered. The boy with goggles became adjusted to the new lights that blared in his face. In the light, he could make out a large black mass with red etchings in the side. _A Trailmon?_ he wondered. "Where am I?" he asked. "Is this…the afterlife? I always thought there'd be a light at the end of a tunnel."

"I'm here to bring you home," the Trailmon answered. Steam billowed from the back.

"Home?" the boy inquired, confused; the steam obscured his vision of the Trailmon for a few moments.

"The Human World," the black train responded. "You lead your friends to the Dark Continent, fought the Warrior of Darkness and lost. Now, you're at the crossroads: to either head home or to stay here."

Takuya looked down. "Yeah," he answered, his mind flashing back to the final moments of his fight with Devimon. The screams of his friends and the faces on Koichi and Strabimon were fresh in his mind. Takuya's eyes danced in his sockets and he held his head, trying to keep himself from trembling as he fought the new wave of tears. He just wanted to run…and that's what he did.

Takuya didn't know when he had gotten into the train car or when the doors were open but he was glad he did. If he could distance himself from what he did, pretend that all that had happened was a dream…he'd be fine. _Yeah, it…it never happened…_ It was a childish notion he clung to and refused to let go of.

"I should have never accepted that call," he said to himself. If he had gone back and changed time, could he have saved everyone?

Takuya was suddenly knocked off his feet as the Trailmon suddenly lurched forwards. He fell to the ground, hitting his head hard. He clutched it in his hands, curling up into the fetal position. He stayed that way for a while. He felt the Trailmon slow down and after continuing at the slower pace, it finally came to a stop.

Takuya flattened himself out on the floor, not daring to get up. Something held him there. Something was nagging him. What right did he have to go home and leave his friends behind? He had gotten everyone killed. Some big hero he was.

The boy shook his head.

"It…it never happened…" he said to himself. Takuya took a breath and rose before leaving the Trailmon car. As soon as he stepped out, he was surprised to not be standing in the middle of the dome of crystal that stood under the floor of the Shibuya Station but, instead, a steel platform warmed by small fires in the walls.

"It's…the Flame Village…" he said to himself, walking forwards and examining the place in wonder. Takuya felt a look of disgust spread across his face.

What kind of cruel joke was this? He was told he was going _home_, to the _Human_ World, not back to square one. He turned around angrily. "What the hell am I doing here?" he demanded of the black Trailmon.

"Watch."

Takuya narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth, hating the cryptic knowing the Digimon had. He turned his head just in time to watch a Worm Trailmon pull into the station. "What's so special about it?" muttered Takuya.

His question was quickly answered. He watched three strikingly familiar humans get literally blown out of the Trailmon. Takuya felt his jaw drop. There was no way—! Zoe, Tommy, and JP were still alive? Joy filled his heart and he ran towards them, shouting, "Hey! Everyone! You're all right!" Takuya wasn't the hugging type but he couldn't help but stretch out his arms. They were alive! Alive! A—!

Takuya stopped. He looked back. Takuya turned, his heart beating in his ears as he stretched out his hand to the blonde girl he had met on that very train. He was met with nothingness, like a hand grasping at thin air.

Takuya stumbled backwards, startled. Something was really wrong.

"Wait, what's a Spirit?" the ghost that was Zoe screamed after the retreating Trailmon.

"I want to go home!" wailed Tommy.

"Can you pipe down, kid?" JP asked crossly.

Takuya examined them. They were just like when he had first arrived with them in the Digital World… Was this a dream? A memory? An illusion? Takuya turned his head towards Tommy. He bent down to the crying boy, keeping his hands at his side.

"Hey, Tommy, it's okay! You have an awesome Spirit!" he tried to comfort.

"Hey, kid, can you _please_ calm down?" JP asked again.

"Hey, just leave him alone," Zoe said, turning to JP. "He's just startled." She turned towards the boy and bent down, placing hands around his shoulders. "Hey, don't worry," she soothed. "We'll get home. All we have to do is find these Spirits."

Takuya sighed. He had forgotten how good she had been at calming down the boy when they first arrived. "I wonder how she did it," he thought aloud, "Zoe said she didn't have any siblings or cousins."

Takuya watched them stand up. "Great, now let's get going!" called Takuya. "We gotta find Koichi and Strabimon!"

No one answered him. Takuya looked down at his hands. What was he doing? They couldn't hear him; they couldn't see him. They were nothing more than an illusion…a memory he yearned for but also yearned to forget. He was just reliving what he had done.

But…where was he? Where was his ghost?

Then he stopped his thoughts. _Wait_…Takuya looked towards the west.

"Oh no…" he said. He looked towards the three humans; the older of the two were busy conversing to each other, deciding on a plan of action. Takuya remembered fighting the dog demon when he had gotten the Human Spirit of Fire and because of his inexperience, it was slightly difficult to fight him. They wouldn't stand a chance without him! "Guys run! Cerubemon's coming!" the Flame Warrior screamed.

They didn't hear him. Takuya grew frustrated. "Go!" he continued, a dire feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. "RUN!"

Then, he saw the startled expressions on their faces. Takuya looked back, his stomach becoming a knot. Cerberumon was close. "GO!" he screamed again. The wall disappeared in the green flames, turning it into data before disappearing. The green inferno danced where the walls had been, leaving the four to stare in surprise and horror. Then a large three headed dog walk unharmed from the green flame thanks to his dark exoskeleton. Takuya's heart dropped.

"RUN!"

"Where's the Spirits?" Cerberumon snarled.

The three humans just stood, shivering. Takuya looked between the two in the deafening silence that followed the question. When no answer came to the demon, it lunged towards them. The humans scattered, Zoe and JP running one direction and Tommy running towards the rails. Takuya raced after Tommy, following his memories: catch Tommy, get the Spirit, defeat Cerberumon.

"Tommy!" he and Zoe screamed together.

A blast of flames suddenly erupted from behind Takuya, passing right through Takuya and obscuring his view as instinct made him flinch. _Shit! _The goggle-head shook off his shock and raced towards the rails that hovered above the nothingness, hoping of seeing the boy clinging to something. He didn't. Tommy wasn't in sight. Instead, all he heard was the fading scream of the boy.

Takuya's eyes opened wide. He felt himself starting to breathe in quick and shallow breathes. _No…no way…_

"TOMMY!" screamed a girl's voice. Takuya snapped back into reality. He spun around, anger boiling in his blood. He pulled out his D-tector as he raced towards Zoe and JP.

"Spirit Evolution!" Takuya called. There was no rush of power he normally had when evolving. He came to a stop, staring down at his D-tector that housed the Spirits of Fire. The goggle-head tried again before throwing it to the ground in frustration. He ran ahead, in hopes of being able to help them.

The dog was slowly walking towards Zoe and JP. "Where's the Spirit?"

"We don't know!" the two desperately answered.

Cerberumon howled in anger before lunging at them. Zoe and JP began running but the girl tripped and the beast landed on top of her arms, easily crushing them. She screamed again.

Takuya forgot that everything here wasn't real. All he could feel was impulse and instinct, screaming at him to save them. _Don't let it happen again. Don't let them die_.Takuya ran in, giving off a war cry. He launched a punch at Cerberumon's head but he past through the dog, like a ghost through a stone wall. Just as he turned back, he watched the dog unleash a green inferno. Takuya didn't hear a scream but his eyes widened in horror all the same. Before him, she turned into a silhouette much like the Digimon they before had purified. Her Fractal Code unraveled and her body disappeared, leaving nothing behind save a pink and purple D-tector. It shined briefly with a purple light before dying and disintegrating into dust.

Takuya covered a gloved hand over his mouth. He heard JP gasp. Takuya knew what was going to happen. He shut his eyes and covered his ears but the sound of the older boy's final screams still pierced his eardrums, painting a vivid and bloody picture that was probably far worse than what Takuya could have seen.

And there, Takuya found himself alone…

The boy fell to his knees, eyes wide with fear. Would this have happened if he hadn't come? Would it…?

No, this was nothing but a horrible dream—a nightmare! All he had to do was wake up.

Takuya rose and ran towards the open Trailmon door. "Take me home!" he shouted.

The Trailmon followed his request. It began chugging away. Takuya watched the land disappear and watched it being quickly replaced by the nothingness that was the result of Cherubimon's conquest. As the train continued, again something began to nag Takuya at the back of his mind. He opened the window and stuck his head out, keeping a good grip on his hat and goggles. Something didn't feel right about him leaving…and it wasn't that he had no right too…just something else that he couldn't name at the moment.

The boy narrowed his eyes at the land he left behind, contemplating what was bothering him. He drew his head in and closed the window just a few minutes before the car became dark. It wouldn't be too long before he'd find himself in the crystalline station.

"_Takuya, why are you going?"_ asked a familiar voice. Takuya froze, turning his head in surprise. Was that Zoe's voice? But…where was she? Takuya sighed…maybe he was hallucinating…

"_Takuya, you're our friend,"_ followed a second voice.

"_Sure you did some really stupid stuff but we still need you._"

"_Come back, Takuya! We're going to need your help!"_

_Zoe, Koichi, JP, Tommy…_ Takuya bowed his head and rested a hand in his pocket. What right do I have to go back? To either world?

"_But we started this together!" _

"And I hurt you all…" he said, despite no one being there to hear him.

"You getting off?" interrupted a sluggish voice, snapping Takuya out of his thoughts. The cabin was full of blue and purple light. He looked out to see the dome of the station he had came to long before…how long had he been in the Digital World?

He stepped out of the Trailmon and swept his eyes over the station. It was empty but he couldn't help but think back to when it was full of the cabooses of Trailmon and kids. How he nearly missed the train…his date with destiny…

Suddenly, he heard a ding and the soft noise of an opening elevator. From there, two transparent figures stepped out, one before the other. The first came out hurriedly and the second much more hesitantly. Takuya gasped as the one running disappeared that was a familiar blur of yellow, red, and brown…

After the figure disappeared by one of the empty spaces where a Trailmon would he, he turned and found that the second figure had his eyes fixed on him. Takuya was taken aback as it morphed into the dark haired boy that had taken Devimon's strike in his stead. "Takuya," Koichi asked, "why are you running?"

He blinked and the figure was gone. _Why are you running?_ "Because…I messed up…" he said to himself.

"_Just because you messed up doesn't mean you run, Kanbara," _a critical voice told him. Takuya flinched…It sounded like…Koji? The boy span around to see Devimon standing before him. Takuya felt petrified…

"_You can't always run from fear…"_

Takuya turned and ran, crying out in fear. He fled to the safety of the elevator. Upon entering, it melted away, much to the occupant's fear and surprise. He then found himself in a hallway…at the bottom a flight of steps. Before him was a boy in dark blue. The only thing that tipped him off that he knew the boy was his headband and a tail of hair that was a shade lighter than Koichi's.

Takuya bent down. _Koji? What is Koji doing here?_ he thought. _Didn't he take a Trailmon? How did he get down…_ Takuya turned his attention towards the steps and then something clicked: Koji didn't get to the Trailmon station. Takuya studied Koji's sprawled body. How did Koji get to the Digital World then?

Takuya didn't have much time to think about it as he suddenly noted a dark fog rolling in at his feet. It obscured everything in the hallway save him and Koji. Takuya felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he guessed at the approaching Digimon. He stood up and span around just in time to see Devimon standing over the two of them.

"I'm here for the boy," he said.

Takuya shivered, readying to run. He took a step. The brunet didn't take another. Koji…if he left Koji alone…he wouldn't be able to fend for himself.

"Move aside," the demon commanded him.

"No," Takuya stated. He clenched his fists. "You may scared me earlier and you sure as hell scare me now, but I won't let you take another person!" Flames started to dance around his fists as Takuya pushed aside his fear and glared up at Devimon. "I'm the Warrior of Flame and I swear I'll take down anyone who dares hurt my friends!" With that promise, the boy burst forwards, the flames at his fists blasting into a blazing inferno. He punched at the demon and upon contact it disappeared with a screech.

The fog dispersed, revealing him back in the station. Takuya found himself at the edge of the Trailmon's door, a foot hovering over the platform and the other planted in the cabin. Takuya drew his foot back in and looked back. What was that experience he had? Was it the Trailmon?

"Are you debarking?" inquired the Trailmon curiously.

Takuya didn't answer. He wasn't sure. He looked down. His friends were dead…what could he still do in the Digital World? He wouldn't be able to confront Cherubimon on his own, he wasn't that stupid. But…maybe, he could still save Koji? Takuya nodded. "That's right. The least I can do is find the Spirits and save Koji. And get Seraphimon's data back!" There was still plenty to be done.

The Digital World still needed saving.

Takuya turned around. "Take me back!" he called.

"You are back."

"No, I mean the Digital World," Takuya specified, marching to a seat. "There's a lot that I'm just leaving undone. I don't know what you did but I just had my eyes open. All I've been doing was running just because I hit a monstrous snag that _I _caused because I wasn't taking anything seriously. This isn't a game anymore. It never was. Too bad I couldn't have seen it sooner."

The Trailmon remained silent for a moment. "All right then," the Trailmon said, closing the doors. Takuya hurriedly took a seat as the Trailmon began taking off, at even faster speeds than Takuya even remembered on his first trip. Shortly, Takuya found himself back in the Dark Continent on the Digital World. Takuya stepped out, thankful to be on solid ground. He looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Takuya then turned his head back towards the Digimon. "Hey, thanks!" he called but the Trailmon had already had disappeared. Takuya exhaled before beginning to walk forwards. After a few steps, he stopped.

"No way!" he nearly shouted. In the dirt a good few yards ahead of him was a red and black D-tector. Takuya rushed over and picked it up. How it had gotten there was entirely beyond him but he didn't care. He grinned at it apologetically. "Sorry about that," he said, namely to his Spirits. "I was being stupid… I hope that everyone could hear tha—." Mid-sentence, Takuya found himself cut off when a map appeared on it. Three dots (yellow, pink, and light blue) all were blinking on the screen. Takuya's heart jumped to his throat. Could they still be alive?

Takuya's face broke into an even wider smile as tears of joy stung his eyes. They just had to be! Takuya studied the map for a minute before taking off. _Hang on, everyone! I'm coming!_

X::::::::::X

Koji blinked, his head aching. Everything about his last battle was a blur. After his feeling of dizziness calmed Koji, the Warrior of Darkness realized he wasn't anywhere he wanted to be. He flinched when he saw the fire and a Shamanmon sitting across from him.

"So, you are awake," he noted.

"Who are you?" demanded Koji, jumping to his feet. His eyes fell to Gazimon, who was sleeping in a pile next to the bed of leaves he was in. He roughly grabbed the Digimon by the nape of the neck, waking him up enough to realize where they were.

"Calm down, friend," the Shamanmon said, waving for Koji to sit down again. "You are a lot ruder than your brother, if I remember correctly."

"Brother?" inquired Koji sardonically. "I don't have a brother!"

Gazimon turned his head up towards Koji. "He's referring to that copycat you struck down." Gazimon carefully watched Koji's expression turn to one of confusion. The weasel Digimon narrowed his eyes. "Something in that boy caused you to loose control."

"What do you mean?" Koji demanded, his voice raising.

Gazimon wiggled out of his partner's grasp. Then, the weasel said pointedly, "When you hurt that copycat, your heart was reawakened and caused you to loose control of the Darkness. It probably made your memory fuzzy since the emotions disrupted your control."

"Darkness?" inquired Shamanmon, perplexed himself. He looked between the two.

Gazimon turned towards him and smirked. "Yeah, you heard right. Darkness, as in the Warrior of Darkness that works for Cherubimon."

"This boy?" he inquired again. Then his face turned solemn. "Destiny _has _span out of control. Darkness is what you claim but not what you are."

The statement left the two in befuddlement. "What are you talking about?" asked Koji. "I _am_ the Prince of Darkness."

The Shamanmon stood up, pulling out a blue orb and holding it above his head. He began bouncing from foot to foot in his ceremonial dance. "Within Darkness, a Light will shine. Destiny has yet to be set right. Ten final trails await the Warriors. There, Darkness will become Light and Light will become Darkness."

"What do you mean?" inquired Gazimon, holding out his claws. "I'm not too keen on riddles so how about you speak plain English now."

Koji too narrowed his eyes. "Darkness becoming Light?" Destiny needing to be "set right?" What was this nonsense?

Shamanmon read the doubt on the two. He held up the orb in one hand and called, "O', Beast of Light, pierce the shadows and reveal the truth among the Dark fog," he chanted. The orb began to glow and the fortuneteller repeated his chant and the light intensified until it blinded Koji.

Something in his heart tugged at him. The Light was different from the first time he had contacted it in his dream. This Light was overpowering and coarse with the ferocity of a beast. Strangely yet, the doubtful boy could feel the soft and comforting warmth of a familiar stranger.

The whisper came softly. "Koji Minamoto."

"Who are you?" demanded Koji. "How do you know my name?"

"Your true Spirit: Lobomon, the Warrior of Light. I picked you to be the bearer of the legacy of the Warrior of Light."

"Warrior of…Light?"

"Yes," the voice said. "That is your destiny. Not the Spirit of Darkness."

Koji wanted to deny it. He wanted to…but everything that this voice was saying just felt…right. He felt like he could trust this voice, this Spirit of Light. His vision then came back. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the Dark Continent, a place that was no longer home. He looked at Shamanmon and stretched out his hand.

"Give me the Spirit," he said. Shamanmon did so.

"My job here is done." With that, Shamanmon turned away and walked a few steps. Then fell, his Fractal Code spinning around him. Gazimon took it from his prey and watched the DigiEgg disappear before turning towards his partner.

"All right, Koji," he said, smirking, "we have a new Spirit to give to Cherubimon. Maybe with this, we can get the Beast Spirit of Darkness and—"

"I have no intention in giving this to Cherubimon," Koji stated, cutting off Gazimon.

"Huh?" he inquired. "Have you lost your mind?"

"No, I've come to a realization. Cherubimon has been telling me lies. I can't trust him anymore. I have to figure everything out for myself." The Digimon blinked and Koji continued on, looking at his partner with a half manic look. "Cherubimon lied to me, hiding who I was. This boy is connected to me more than we originally thought and I believe Cherubimon knows that. All I want is to get back what is mine from the 'copycat.'" Koji walked over to his partner Digimon and then placed the Beast Spirit on Gazimon's forehead. Gazimon flinched as his face came into contact with it and he began to glow with his Fractal Code. "Of course, I need your help, _partner_."

With that, Gazimon completely unraveled into Fractal Code that became a black sphere in Koji's hands. The orb he had used to Evolve with floated from his pocket and three feet away. The two Spirits went into the orb in a streak of black and blue and the orb morphed into a black and white device, much like the one that his 'copycat' and his friends had. Koji gripped it in hand and a smirked crossed his face.

Destiny would be set right.

**Chapter 22: End.**

**8D Heavily based after my older fic of **_**If I Never Left**_** but with spins to fit my better writing style and this story in itself. Many things are left the same, such as Takuya seeing a "what-if" scenario, Takuya not turning into Flammon, Takuya seeing one of the twins in the hallway just after the fall before confronting their dark forms, ect. Then I tacked on Koji's part to save me another chapter. 8D God, it's going to be fun writing him as a complete maniac! Bwahaha! It's coming! The ending! I can see it!**


	24. Chapter 23: JP's Electric Storm

**A/N: YES! I'M FINALLY UPDATING! Thanks to Kimiko Heroux, Martiny, Immortal Fallen Radiance, and madjack89 for reviewing. Yes, another JP-centered chapter. XD; Well, we all know each character's going to get at least one story centered on them individually. I'm hoping to make the Sakkakumon arc a tad more original, so, this is why I left Arbormon alive. Anyway, enough of me talking, on to the chapter! Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier at all.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 23: JP's Electric Storm

Koichi, Zoe, JP, Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon sat in silence around the fire, wounds had been dressed shortly before, leaving the children left to sit and worry as they had nothing left to do to keep their minds and hands busy. JP could easily see the anxiety the others were showing because of the missing Flame Warrior. JP scowled, glaring at the fire as he wrestled with contradicting feelings in his mind. _Why should I be worried for the moron, anyway?_ he thought; after all, it was Takuya who had been the one who led them into their almost deaths…however, he couldn't shake off his worry for their missing comrade.

Zoe sighed. "I wish we could go out there looking for him," she said, her eyes staring at the fire, her statement irked JP.

"None of us are fully recovered from battle," JP responded simply, poking at the fire with the fire stick and doing his best to keep the anger overrunning the worry. "Besides, we shouldn't need to look for him. This is all his fault anyway." _Why should I worry about a bafoon?_

"JP!" Zoe shrieked crossly. "Takuya could be hurt for all we know! He's a friend!"

"Yeah but he was the one who came up with a stupid plan," JP retorted.

Koichi frowned and replied, "But we were the ones to follow it." The Warriors of Thunder and Wind looked towards the dark haired boy in surprise but the dark haired boy ignored his friends' stares and the Warrior of Light continued, "We're just as every bit at fault as Takuya, JP."

"Koichi's right," Bokomon said, looking over at JP. "JP, if I remember correctly, you didn't object to Takuya's plan when he gave it out."

The addressed boy didn't retort, instead turning away in defeat. They were all right, after all, but his pride refused to agree.

"M-maybe we should try contacting Takuya?" suggested Tommy, finally speaking up for the first time since they realized that Takuya was missing.

"There might be a chance that he won't answer," Bokomon said.

"How do we know for sure?" countered Tommy with a hopeful spark.

"Well, I'll contact Strabimon then," Zoe volunteered.

"No need," called Strabimon, causing the four humans and two Digimon turned back to watch the wolf walk over to the fire with a meek Takuya walking slowly behind him.

"Takuya!" called Tommy, Zoe, and Koichi joyously.

JP watched Tommy race over to the brunet and wrap his arms around him and Koichi and Zoe carefully head towards him, big and relieved smiles on their faces. JP's browns lowered as he watched a frown on his face; he couldn't help but think, _Lucky moron._ JP shook his head quickly. _I'm not envious!_

"Takuya, where have you been?" asked Tommy, pulling the older boy to sit with him.

"It's a complicated story," Takuya said, meekly. JP looked over at him in surprise. There was something different about the boy, as if he had aged five years. The Warrior of Thunder listened; the boy's speech had changed drastically, no longer emitting the power of the owner's pride…no, it was more careful, almost calm.

"I've come to realize how much of an idiot I was," Takuya said, his voice low and melancholy. "You guys getting hurt and almost killed…its all my fault. Words can't describe how glad I am that you are all alive." He looked carefully at everyone and when his gaze fell on JP, the Warrior of Thunder was taken aback, the look saying that what Takuya said and how he was acting was genuine. "I don't know if you guys can forgive me but I'm willing to give it one last try to save the Digital World."

"Takuya, you've really changed," Zoe commented, making the boy's sad smile take on a whole new shine.

"I feel different," he admitted. "It's like I'm a whole new Takuya Kanbara."

"Well, we're glad you're back," Koichi said from across the fire. He then hesitated and looked over at JP, questioning the phrase he had just said making the boy turn away, half frowning.

"Yeah," he said. "Glad you're okay."

"You're not angry?" the Flame Warrior inquired, surprise in his voice.

"Just before you arrived, _practically_ everyone came to a consensus that the fault was to be shared," Bokomon informed.

JP, at the moment, rose. He didn't feel like he was needed there; it would be just the same. The distraught boy turned and ignored the calls from the surprised brunet. Things would just be the same: he wouldn't be appreciated at all, just like he always was.

X::::::::::X

Mercurymon sat on the roof of the castle, staring into his mirror as he watched the children marched, all of them bandaged and bruised. His mind turning like cogs in a clock with this new information and that he had collected only an hour before; things were truly starting to get interesting.

"I can't believe that damn twerp killed all of those annoying brats!" the Steel Warrior heard Ranamon shriek from below as she marched the stairs. Mercurymon just smirked as the nymph walked and placed her elbows on the wall's surface and her chin on her hands. "That kid was able to do something we've been trying to do for the last several months! And now, he has the Spirits! It just isn't fair."

"Why doth thou complain when thee hath not battled the children but three times?" he inquired.

"What are you talkin' about, tinhead?" the amphibious Digimon retorted. "You fought them less times than I have! Don't go throwing around your weight, Mr. I've-done-nothin-but-sit-on-my-bum-all-day-and-stare-at-my-reflection."

"Unlike thee, I hath been collecting information. My mirrors showeth me everything I need, including the information that the children art alive and with Spirits."

Ranamon slowly stood straight up as she processed the information. "The brats are still alive, huh?" the Water Warrior asked, a diabolical smile spreading across her face. "And ripe for the picking too."

"Mind if I'm apart of this plan, Mercurymon?" inquired a new voice. The two turned to see Koji walking up the stairs.

"What makes thee thinketh that I concocted a plan?" Mercurymon asked smugly; of course he knew Koji knew but this didn't keep the shield-bearing knight from posing the question.

"I know you, Mercurymon," Koji returned icily. "You always wait in the shadows like a scavenger, waiting for the right moment when other predators are away before you take your prize. You plan on over throwing Cherubimon; I'm not stupid. I too want to ask some questions to Cherubimon."

"Then what holds thee back?" inquired Mercurymon, slyly. He held up his mirror and an image of the dark haired human that looked so much like Koji appeared on its surface. "Thine own copycat?"

"I have my reasons," Koji answered in a low voice.

"Indeed," Mercurymon replied, lowering his shield. "You wish to quarrel with him. I will provide the perfect stage for the closing of the final act."

"Well, sugar, all the world's a stage," Ranamon said.

"—and we art the players."

X::::::::::X

The five humans had been walking for several days that were free from JP's angry glares and snide remarks, instead, adopting a silence that was much quieter than Koichi's and Strabimon's. The silent boy dawdled behind them as they talked with flare that was chattier than usual, even Koichi was chatting more than he usually did in any conversation.

JP just watched them, feeling slightly guilty and angry at the same time, unable to pinpoint the reason for both…or rather, he knew but kept himself in denial. JP shook his head.

"Hey, JP!" called Takuya, jarring the boy in blue from his thoughts. "Hey, why are you back there, JP? Come on up and talk!" A sparkle of hope filled JP's eyes as he went to catch up with them.

"Were are we going? How long is it before we get there?" asked Neemon, automatically earning a snap of his waistband from Bokomon.

"The Rose Morning Star, right?" JP inquired enthusiastically.

"Not right away," Takuya said, surprising the group and causing him to explain his thought process: "We should at least try to get Seraphimon's data back before doing who knows what at the Rose Morning Star and—Stop giving me that look, would you guys? It's creeping me out!"

"It's just…normally you're the one to go rushing in," Koichi iterated the thoughts of the group.

"Just like an idiot," added Strabimon, earning a frown from the dark haired boy.

"Basically," Zoe agreed.

"We at least will need Koichi's Beast Spirit and need to get stronger before we face Cherubimon," the oldest brunet inputted.

"And Seraphimon would make a great help," Bokomon said, patting his egg affectionately. "He'll be my strong baby."

The humans made faces at the overly affectionate praise and baby talk the gnome went into, leading them to begin talking about something else to drown it out. JP couldn't help but smile on the inside; maybe he had been stupid in listening to Arbormon.

The talking was quickly cut off by a blast of wind. The Warriors and their Digimon companions stopped, involuntarily shielding their eyes against the gale. The wind became stronger, turning into a funnel with enough force to pick them off the ground and disappear into the sky with screams all but inaudible.

X::::::::::X

The next thing that they were aware of, the humans and Strabimon landed in a clump on something squishy, absorbing the shock of their fall.

"What the heck was that?" Zoe asked, rising.

"I'd be more comfortable by knowing where we are," Koichi said aloud.

JP looked around, seeing that there was no way to figure out where they were as they were in a hallway with red, spongy, and windowless walls. The boy in blue looked down one end of the hall in hopes of seeing a door but none was in sight, instead just more hallway. Instead, he turned and his eyes fell on a giant eyeball.

"Well, whoever the decorator is, they have some funky sense of style," the Warrior of Thunder muttered to himself. For several minutes, he examined the wall but suddenly felt someone push him forwards. Being caught off guard, he lost balance and in his struggle to regain it, he fell forwards into the eye.

After landing hard on the ground, JP turned to look back and shout at whoever pushed him but he stopped short of the action. The Warrior of Thunder found himself alone in a forest area.

"…Well, how the hell does that work?" he wondered aloud, dumbfounded. The boy rose and looked around. "And where is everyone?"

"They left you."

JP leapt out of the way as he heard the cracking and moaning of wood and a split second later, a trunk had landed in a loud thud where the human had been. The Warrior of Thunder looked in the direction where the tree had come from to see Arbormon stepping forwards, claiming the voice and responsibility for the fallen tree.

"Well, that's just great," JP muttered to himself, pulling out his D-tector and Spirit Evolving into Beetlemon. "Look, I've just had enough of you."

"I'm bettin' your friends are thinking the same thing about you, righ'?"

"And you'd know this how?" the blue Warrior growled lowly, electricity crackling around his clenched fists.

"I saw them push you," the Wood Warrior answered, his voice edging onto sympathy; it was the most that hinted at any emotion as the doll-shaped Warrior lacked facial expressions.

Something in JP began burning, something deep and bitter. "I don't want your sympathy," Bettlemon growled, the electricity in his fist crackling. The Warrior of Thunder flew in, allowing his element to consume his entire exoskeleton before crashing into the Warrior of Wood. In a shower of sparks and wood splinters, the two collided into a tree, it toppling past the two airborne Warriors.

The two rose and Arbormon Slide Evolved into Petaldramon. "Your friends don't want ya, righ'. They shoved ya into here, knowing that you would face me. We are similar, righ'?"

Bettlemon glowered at the wood lizard. "No, we aren't." With that, JP Slide Evolved into MetalKabuterimon and fixed his twin arm cannons on him, unleashing the two spheres of electricity. Maybe they were both unwanted by their friends but, if that was so, the Warrior of Thunder wouldn't let them walk all over him; he had something to fight for unlike his enemy.

Petaldramon rose onto his hind feet, unleashing a storm of leaves from his nose but the leaves attack left the armor unmarred. The tank retaliated by unleashing another blast of electricity; the attack collided with the Wood Warrior in the face and cutting short his attack. MetalKabuterimon took advantage of this distraction and plowed forwards and into the unstable Petaldramon, causing the lizard to collapse on his back.

The Warrior of Wood Slide Evolved back into his Human Spirit form to get up and was faced down by MetalKabuterimon. "You're friends left ya; they always leave you righ'?"

MetalKabuterimon did his best to shake off the question and focus on his battle. He bent forward onto his twin launcher-arms, aiming his cannon at his enemy and charging his devastating attack. No matter how hard he tried to keep the question out, it still clutched the boy's mind. _"They always leave you…"_ Alone.

Always, alone.

_Boom!_ MetalKabuterimon found himself on his side, dazed and confused. Being unable to get up, the Warrior reverted to his lower Hybrid form and looked around to gather information. The next thing he could register was something grabbing his ankles and the following second, being up in the air and level with a standing Petaldramon.

"Ya know, I feel bad about our kindred spirits, righ'?" asked Petaldramon. "You and I, we're like two peas in a pod. We wan' people to like us, yet we can't get their attention."

"No," JP denied outwardly; he knew the Warrior was correct about that but the Warrior of Thunder wouldn't let him have that satisfaction. For years, JP had tried winning people's attention over with chocolate, magic tricks, and the like but it would work and if it somehow had, the attention would only last a few minutes or maybe a day.

The vines tightened to force the cries of pain and the truth out of him. As that didn't work, Petaldramon decided to try other methods. With a snort, the lizard unleashed a Leaf Tornado, the leaves having more of an effect on the weaker armor. The vines then flung the beetle based Hybrid sideways into a tree that swayed in from the force of Bettlemon landing in it's branches. The branches snapped from the impact, causing the occupant to land on the ground, forcing him to regenerate into his human form.

"Don't deny it!" shouted the voice of Petaldramon with a tone that bordered desperation—a desperation to have a kindred spirit.

JP looked back at the Digimon, frowning. He couldn't help but see himself in there: a person hiding behind the armor with a stoic expression but desperate for something equivalent to human companionship. Could this be him in years to come? Could he be one that forces something on someone else like this?

"We may be similar, Arbormon," JP said. "We have both been cast off by people that we want to be friends with in our attempts in trying to win companionship, friendship."

Petaldramon lowered himself to be on level with the human, eyes glinting with something mad, strange. JP ignored the creepiness of the glance and gathered the force of his words.

"We're not the same. I'm not as desperate as you. I'm NOT you!" The human held out his D-tector, announcing that the owner's willingness to keep fighting. "I _won't_ become you! Beast Spirit Evolution!" MetalKabuterimon stood ready, unleashing a Bolo Thunder at the wood lizard.

The Digimon roared and reared, lashing out it's tail that the Warrior of Thunder Slide Evolved and flew into the air to dodge the attack. Bettlemon filled his body with electricity with electricity and flew downwards, crashing into Petaldramon's face before flying upwards. From his horn, the Warrior of Thunder unleashed a powerful stream of electricity aimed at Petaldramon's grass covered back that caught on fire. Petaldramon screamed in agony, and Slide Evolved back into Arbormon and rolled in the dirt that had been kicked up during the battle to put out the flames.

Arbormon rose, a glare eminent despite the stoic face. One of the doll's detachable hands flew up to grab Beetlemon but the insectoid flew down to avoid it. He charged his horn with electricity again and flew forwards but a kick made him diverge his course and crash face first into the ground, his head throbbing.

"Ya know, I thought we could be friends," Arbormon said aloud, a sickening sweet apology rising in his tone, "but you'll die alone."

The detachable limb rose. Bettlemon couldn't move, his head aching too much to think clearly. Time slowed. Was this the end? The end…_I wish I knew I had real friends…_

Then, he heard something. Something crashing into someone else. JP dared to lift his head to see Agunimon standing over him, body poised to attack something.

"What are you doing here?" he called, his tone filled with mixed relief, surprised, and hostility.

"What the heck is with that tone?" Kazemon's voice inquired, flying down to help Bettlemon up.

JP was silent, turning his eyes to behind the winged girl to see Kumamon and Gargoylemon flying towards them as he stood.

"What are you _all _doing here?" he asked again.

"We came to your rescue!" Kumamon answered, slightly confused by the blue Hybrid's disbelief. "We're your friends, after all, JP."

_Friends._ His friends.

"You okay, JP?" asked Gargoylemon.

"Sorry, it took us so long," Agunimon apologized, giving Beetlemon a rueful grin. "We would have gotten here sooner but we had absolutely _no _idea how to navigate this place."

JP didn't know what to say, his mouth couldn't form any words—not as if it could, as the boy's mind couldn't form any phrases that could express what he was feeling. What was it? Whatever it was, it was stronger than relief, as if he had been allowed to stop some sort of toiling task…or maybe to be joined by friends, making his job more enjoyable and worthwhile.

"JP?" asked a slightly concerned Agunimon, making a strange face.

"No, that's okay," the beetle answered before turning his attention to the raising Arbormon. "Mind if I cover this one, chief?"

"Uh, sure?" the Flame Warrior took a step back, whispering to himself about the new nickname.

"Thanks," Bettlemon said, stepping forwards and Slide Evolving. _Yeah, we're just as similar as two friends that have gone their separate ways._ "Electro Cannon!" The blast of energy easily destroyed the burned and weakened Digimon, revealing Arbormon's Fractal Code that Beetlemon quickly took. With that out of the way, Beetlemon de-evolved into JP; his comrades followed suit, assuming they were out of danger.

JP turned towards his friends, looking at them misty-eyed and with a big smile on his face, happy to see them all, including Strabimon, as much as they used to fight in the past. They returned his gaze with worry and concerned looks.

"You okay?" Zoe spoke up.

"Yeah," JP answered, "I just came to a realization myself."

"Well, how about you stop looking at us as if you're about to cry," Strabimon said aloud, earning an eye roll from Zoe and a shake of the head from Koichi.

"Sorry," JP laughed, nervously. "It's just…I was being a complete tool…" The boy looked down shamefacedly. "I doubted everyone's friendship and acted like a complete jerk, thinking you guys didn't really care about me."

"JP, that's crazy," Koichi said, a small smile on his face. "We're all your friends."

"Yeah," agreed the other three humans.

"And you, Strabimon?" he glanced upwards at the Rookie Digimon, causing Strabimon to look away while trying to keep a straight face but completely failing.

"M-maybe just a little."

The five humans laughed at Strabimon's awkwardness, something they hadn't done all together in a while.

"Man, it feels good to laugh again," JP sighed, stretching.

"Yeah, we've been under so much drama," Takuya said, wistfully.

"Oh, Takuya, don't you too go and get sentimental," Zoe teased.

They broke out into fits of giggles again. If only something like this could happen again.

X::::::::::X

Koji watched for several long minutes in the Steel Sphere, icy blue eyes fixed on a mirror that showed the humans that he and his comrades would soon be facing. "Mercurymon!" he shouted, glaring over at the tall figure behind him impatiently.

"Shortly, mi Lord," Mercurymon answered vindictively. "Thou hath patiencs, nay?"

Koji scowled, turning back towards the scene. Shortly, he told himself. Soon, everything shall be set right and he will have the Spirits. All he needed was patiencs.

**Chapter 23: End.**

**Now, for some apologizing. I'm sorry it took so long to get this out! I was having major writer's block with this but I finally figured it out, as you can see.**

**Second: shameless advertising! (shot) Anyway, a second reason for not entirely working on this is because of a new story I have out called **_**In the Light of the Fading Moon**_** (long title, I know) that is a crossover of Sailor Moon and Digimon Frontier. Anyway, if you happen to like Sailor Moon, feel free to check it out. XD;**


	25. Chapter 24: When Passion Colors Everythi

**A/N: Thanks to Martiny, Something dictionary related, Immortal Fallen Radiance, Asarikou-chan, Stelra Etnae, madjack89, and the anonymous reviewer Alexus-al for reviewing. =) Sorry it took so long to update! ^^; To make up for that, I'm doing a double update!**

**As of this replan, there are only four chapters left, excluding this one. Let see how this goes…**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will probably ever own Digimon.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 24: When Passion Colors Everything

The white pines stood tall and were spaced far apart which allowed the beautiful blue sky to shine down on the calm green grass and a pack of three ponds; a scene such as this would cause one to think of a peaceful time in the park or a nice place for a picnic but the affects of the pseudo forest were different for the young blonde as she recalled memories she had long ago thought were buried in the recesses of her mind. _I shouldn't have been so quick to judge,_ Zoe thought, closing her green eyes to the world and picturing the hurt and shamed face of Kimiko. The girl came to a stop and stared at the ground, wishing that of all places she could have ended up, it was a place where she had to _fight_ instead of reflecting over things.

Fortunately, something had snapped her out of her thoughts. "Help us!" called a chorus of voices, causing the blonde to look to her right to see three giant bee looking Digimon trapped in a cage made out of sticks.

Zoe hurriedly ran over, quickly asking, "How'd you get in there?"

"We were just flying around and this trap fell on us," one of them answered.

"All right," she said, backing up a step. "Just hang on a second and I'll have you out." With that, she quickly Spirit Evolved into Kazemon and kicked the cage hard enough to collapse, leaving the three bee Digimon gaping and thanking her and introducing themselves as Honeybeemon.

"How can we thank you?" one of them asked, stars in their eyes.

"How about we treat you to some of our food?" suggested another.

The idea appalled the third, causing the said Honeybeemon to answer, "But that's for—!"

"How else can we repay this lovely person?" the second retorted, making the girl blush embarrassedly. And so, she found herself having a small picnic with the three bee Digimon by the water, chatting and eating the various honey-flavored foods that the Honeybeemon brought.

"This is really amazing," Zoe said, beaming. "Thank you."

The honeybees blushed profusely and one spoke up, saying, "You're so kind. I bet you have tons of friends."

The blonde flinched suddenly, dropping her muffin onto the ground as her eyes looked down ashamedly as she remembered Kimiko and Nazu. "I'm not as kind as you think I am," she answered absently.

The three Honeybeemon cocked their heads in confusion. "What do you mean?" they questioned.

Zoe kept her eyes down and hesitated at first, twiddling her thumbs, but finally gave in. What was the worst that could happen? "Back in my world, there were two girls that I hurt. I made Kimiko cry after she offered to apologize to me and I broke Nazu's trust, all because of my temper," she explained, spilling out her emotions in a rapid succession, eyes becoming watery at her emotions that were irritated like reopened battle wounds. Despite feeling terrible about her past, it felt better to get it off her chest as it had been crushing the Italian for all those months though for a majority of them, the blonde had ignored them. At the moment, she was grateful and let a sad smile cross her face before thanking them for listening to her emotional spill, not noticing that one had disappeared into the forest farther in.

X:::::::::X

_The day was beautiful and the Himi family walked in the park and eventually, the youngest had become tired and wasn't afraid of saying so to his parents._

"_Well, Tommy," Mrs. Himi said as she and her husband turned to the two boys, a smile on her face. "How about you wait here with your brother and we go get some refreshments?"_

_The younger of the two brothers chirped happily, "Can I have ice cream, Mama?"_

"_Sure," she answered and her husband turned towards the elder of the two sons, asking, "Yutaka, you want anything?"_

"_Just water," he answered and the two parents walked away to get the refreshments. Tommy and Yutaka sat side-by-side on the fountain ledge in silence as the two never really got along, as the older boy had always—in the eyes of the younger—been rather cold and they had little in common. However, Yutaka spoke up, looking over at his brother. "You know we only rested twenty minutes ago."_

"_Yeah, but it's hot. I'm not you anyway, Yutaka," Tommy answered defensively. This was a common occurrence between the two and so Tommy wasn't meek in the presence of his brother unlike the bullies at his school._

_The elder rolled his eyes. "You don't get it, Tommy," he answered. "You can't keep taking advantage of people like Mom and Dad. The world doesn't work like that because you'll eventually have to do something called work to get what you want. Even then, you can't always get what you want."_

"_Quit being so jealous! Mama and Papa are just nice to me, there's nothing I can do about it," the boy in the orange hat retorted, casting a glare at his brother._

_The receiver of the glare didn't do anything but sigh. "You _really_ don't get it." Yutaka narrowed his eyes, causing his younger brother to flinch. "This is why you don't have friends, you expect to be treated like a prince and get anything you want."_

_The young boy began to become teary-eyed as Yutaka poked his tender spot. "Shut up, Yutaka! You don't know anything!" he screamed. How dare he! How dare he!_

_Yutaka glared at his bother, about to retort but refrained, features growing soft. "I know more than you know, kid," he answered, surprising Tommy slightly. He rose before adding, "I'm out of here."_

"_Where are you going?" Tommy asked._

"_Away from here, that's for sure."_

"_Well, I hate you too!"_

Tommy awoke, disoriented and confused about why he was remembering that conversation with his brother. The boy snorted, shaking if off; Yutaka was a jerk to everyone save his older friends that he had never seen (but the young brunet was sure that his brother was still a jerk to them). Then, in an effort to push his brother out of his mind, the Warrior of Ice began to try and learn why it was so hot as the place he was in before was mild in temperature; a quick survey noted red hot lava pools and mounds of rock and possibly a volcano in the distance.

The human rose. How was he able to come here? Was it those eyes? The next question that entered his mind was where his friends were and so, Tommy took to the task of calling for them and received no answer and instead went about trying to on foot look for them.

"Takuya! Koichi! JP! Zoe! Strabimon! Anyone there?"

No matter how far he looked, the boy still didn't find any of his comrades and eventually sat down in defeat. "I wonder where everyone is? Did they get sent to a different place by those eyes?"

"Fire Fist of Shiva!"

Tommy had barely heard it coming and rolled out of the way just in time as the fireball exploded into nothing as it hit the rock where the would-be victim was seconds before. The Warrior looked up to see a three-faced humanoid that look like it had walked out of a Hindu legend, an angry one in a mask glared down the Warrior. Tommy summoned his courage and pulled out his D-tector, about ready to evolve but was quickly cut short as a second fire punch was launched at him, causing the Warrior of Ice to abandon the idea in favor of running and dodging the fireballs.

His heart pounded in his ears as he continued running, searching the land for somewhere to hide so he could maybe use it to his advantage. The land, however, had nothing to offer save pits of fire. Tommy dared a glance back, checking if the pursuer was still after him and indeed he was.

And with this distraction, the young brunet found that he had lost his balance as his foot had gone a step too far. The Warrior of Ice's vision snapped forwards and the boy found himself falling into a pit of lava. Fear gripped the small body as he suddenly cried out a name for help.

"Yutaka!"

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist and stopped the descent. Tommy's heart skipped a beat: he was here! He had to be! The boy looked up expecting to see his brother but instead was met by a kindly face shrouded in a brown hooded-cloak.

"You okay, young one?" asked the rough voice.

"Y-yeah, I guess so," he answered.

The cloaked figure helped him up onto solid land before asking, "Who's Yutaka?"

Tommy was taken aback, about to inquire how the stranger knew his brother's name but then he realized why. "He's…my brother," the Warrior answered, his voice spilling over with suppressed anger towards the subject. Why had he called out his brother's name and not Takuya's? Or even JP's? Tommy considered both of them better brother-like than his real kin.

"You don't like him?" asked the stranger, shifting his head.

The boy shook his own. "I hate him."

"Well, hate is a strong word. How about we walk together since we're both stuck here?"

The Warrior nodded hesitantly, taking the hand offered by the unnamed figure. The notion of introducing each other then came to mind. "I'm Tomoki Himi but everyone calls me Tommy."

"Asuramon, friend," answered the cloaked Digimon with a smile, causing the younger to smile as well.

X:::::::::X

Zoe sat by the water, waiting for the final Honeybeemon so she could then thank them before going to find the rest of the Warriors. Some time passed and the blonde found herself falling asleep, deciding it was okay to close her eyes for a few minutes, she fell into unconsciousness. When she awoke, the final Honeybeemon was sitting before her with his three friends holding a red apple.

"Oh, man, how long did I sleep?" she asked, hurriedly standing. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!" The girl bowed awkwardly thanking them for the meal.

"Wait…" the Honeybeemon called, the one holding the apple offered it to her. "Uh…this is for you."

The blonde blinked before shaking her hands. "I'm sorry, but I can't take any more from you, sweet bombò," Zoe responded.

"Please," pressed the bee Digimon.

The Warrior of Wind considered it for a minute but then took it with a smile and thanked them before deciding to at least appease them and take a bit of the apple. Sadly, it was a stupid move on her part.

She began to get woozy and a feeling of shame came over the girl like a dark cloud, stealing away all the sunshine. Zoe wobbled over to the lake and stared down at her reflection to see a pretty face looking back at her but her mirror image seemed to lie, taunting her. This was something she wasn't, inside and out. Ugly, that was what Zoe was. A temper that was quick to snap and hurt those she knew. Nazu never did anything wrong to her and Kimiko was right to ditch her. After all, who could be friends with such a beast?

"_Bugiarda!"_

"_Maiale!"_

That was what she was: a liar and a pig. She was lying to herself that she'd be able to make friends and a swine for even trying to get something better than she deserved.

_I'm sorry Kimiko._

"That's right, you're a joke, pretty little brat," a familiar voice called. Zoe looked up to see Ranamon walking over to her, a bouquet of orchids in her hands and a wide smirk on her face. "Ugly inside out. If only your outside matched your insides, sug."

"I shouldn't have been so cruel," the blonde stated to herself in a low whisper.

Ranamon bent down to meet her, gripping the distraught blonde's chin with a free hand and shaking the girl's head. "Sugar, you've been playing yourself from the start. I'm glad that the Honeybeemon showed you your true self, something ugly inside out." The Warrior of Water forced the human to look at the humiliated honeybee Digimon that refused to meet her green eyes. "They were working for me the entire time." When the Honeybeemon didn't answer, she gave out a sharp "Well?" that caused the Digimon to answer a reluctant yes.

Ranamon then pushed her into the shallow water. "You would eventually hurt your friends, so why don't you just give up now? Remember those poor girls?"

"I…" Zoe began, sitting up and looking down at her reflection again, eyes half closed and watery. A few drops fell into the water as she wished she had the chance to turn back time, stop herself from jumping the gun as she had…but, there was no way to turn back time and so, all she could do was better herself. "I…want to be kinder…"

The blue girl held a hand to her ear and asked, "Huh? Sug, I can't hear you whimper if you mumble."

The blonde looked towards Ranamon and repeated herself. "I want to be kinder…I don't want to be so cruel to my friends! I want…to be someone I am proud of!" It was her only chance to make amends, to learn from her mistakes.

Ranamon's face contorted in rage as she threw the flowers. "You can't become better!" she shrieked, calling upon a tidal wave to splash her onto the shore. The girl coughed up water as the blue Digimon continued her rant. "You can't change! You aren't even pretty! Who's going to take you anyway?"

"Don't listen to Ranamon!" called the Honeybeemon, causing the two to look towards them. "You're the kindest person we know!"

"R-really?" Zoe asked, at first surprised before a ray of happiness broke the gloom of her mind. Then, she remembered the stories of Beauty and the Beast: true beauty is on the inside, kindness. The beast had a nasty temper but changed himself into a better, nicer person. Sure she wasn't gorgeous or the nicest person on the face of the planet but she at least could start to become that way.

Ranamon shrieked and flew at them, using the lake water to her advantage to send them into the water. The Italian stood; this was Ranamon's last battle. She pulled out her D-tector and immediately Spirit Evolved into Zephyrmon and crashed into the Warrior of Water, sending Ranamon into her element before going to get the insect Digimon out of the water. Once they were collected, she put them on the shore.

"Are you okay?" the harpy asked and they nodded in response.

"Thank you!" they buzzed happily. "We're so sorry that we did that to you."

Zephyrmon waved her hand. "Don't worry, you guys made me realize something so just stay safe."

"Safe is the last thing they'll be!" screeched Ranamon as she blasted out of the water. "This is WAR! Slide Evolution!" Calmaramon stood high, making the three honeybees quake in their boots but the harpy stood ready. The squid Digimon launched her Acid Ink attack and Zephyrmon moved and went in for an attack with her Plasma Pods but stopped short as she heard the piercing cries of the Honeybeemon.

The humanoid-bird looked down to see the three had been hit by the acid and were too weak to hold in their Fractal Codes. Calmaramon was quick to finish them off, crushing them with one of her tentacles before cackling aloud in a shallow triumph.

X:::::::::X

Tommy sat, tired from walking in the heat as his newfound friend had gone to fetch water. "I'm not effected by the heat," Asuramon had reasoned, "I'll get you water, after all, friends help each other out." The boy smiled, he was as nice as Takuya and the others, but maybe a tad too nice? He remembered the events with the Porcupamon back in the islands. After shaking off his fears of the event, the Warrior of Ice remembered how the cannibal had kidnapped him using his hat as a ploy before snatching him up. Maybe Asuramon was doing that?

"What's wrong, Tommy?" the voice of the subject of the Warrior's thoughts spoke up, causing the said boy to look up.

"It's just…me and my friends have been in a situation like this before," the boy answered absentmindedly before catching himself a little too late.

Asuramon laughed heartily. "You think I'm going to take advantage of you?" he asked, causing the human to feel dumb about his suspicion. "Is that what friends do, Tommy? No, we help each other."

The Warrior of Ice couldn't help but giggle himself. What was he thinking? Of course friends wouldn't do that! Tommy beat back suspicion but caution still remained in his mind, after all, how many times had he and his friends been duped when they had help? For sure with the Toucanmon and Porcupamon (and possibly with the bird that made the horrible noodles) but then how many times had they met Digimon that actually helped them? Sorcermon, FlameWizardmon, Whamon, and many more came to mind; caution, however, remained all the same.

After Tommy finished the water, he and Asuramon began on their way for a way to find his friends or a way out. As they continued, it became hotter and hotter and the boy started to notice that they were coming closer and closer to the fiery mountain in the distance.

"Are you sure we will find my friends up there?" he asked, growing more unsure with his companion's direction. "It's too hot for me, so I doubt they'd be up there."

"Well, I think it's nice and cozy," Asuramon answered calmly as he began picking up the pace, dragging the other even faster towards the mountain, causing Tommy to dig his heels into the rock and stop the cloaked Digimon. He looked at the boy's worried expression with narrow eyes. "Why are you stalling? We're running out of time."

The Warrior of Ice slipped his hand out of Asuramon's grasp, doubt peaking finally. "Asuramon, my friends aren't going to be up there. It's so hot that I don't think that they'd survive."

"Well, I need to go up there and you're coming with me because you're my friend. Friends help each other, remember?" the cloaked Digimon snapped, making the human flinch. "Is this what I get in return for saving your life?"

Asuramon…there was something familiarly odd about him… His voice…

Tommy backed up a few steps. "But…it's wrong…to keep score…" he answered in a low voice. "Friendship isn't about the take… 'Friendship is an idea of mutual trust and giving and support.' …Yutaka always said that…" _Quit being selfish…that's what Yutaka always told me…Asuramon is just like me…Yutaka's right!_

"Yutaka isn't here and who cares if he's right," Asuramon growled, "I'm taking my debt!" In a battle cry, the cloak went up in flames, revealing the figure beneath it as the same Digimon who had attacked him earlier.

"You…!"

"Give me your Spirits!" the three faced demon demanded as the red masked face switched with the yellow one. Tommy took another step back, pulling out his D-tector and Spirit Evolved into Kumamon.

X:::::::::X

Zoe couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at the horror of Calmaramon claiming the Fractal Codes so mercilessly. Tears stung her eyes and rage claimed her mind. How could she do that? They were helpless next to her power!

"WHY?" Zephyrmon screamed, flying in and slicing at Calmaramon.

"They wanted out of the fanclub," the Warrior of Water growled back as she attempted to grab hold of her enemy. "They dared leave a beauty like me for a beast like you!"

_Beast, me?_ "No, Ranamon, you're the real beast!" the Warrior of Wind answered, unleashing a Hurricane Gale upon the squid but she tucked into her lower body to avoid the attack.

"Titanic Twist!" The body began to spin like a top and rose into the air. Zephyrmon rose higher into the air to avoid it but Calmaramon's upper body rose out of the lower part and had enough of an arm span to capture the Warrior in her hands before throwing her into the water.

As soon as she broke the surface, Zephyrmon swam as fast as she could to get out of the way of an attack but Calmaramon's body still landed on her and the two fell down to the bottom of the lake before coming up. The Warrior of Wind rose in order and broke the surface, gasping. Her ears picked up the sound of the Warrior of Water claiming her victory over the Zephrmon. The harpy flicked the water off her wings and rose into the air.

"I, Calmaramon, am the most beautiful and the strongest Digimon to ever live!" she called out hysterically, raising her arms in victory like a small child.

"Wrong," Zephyrmon said, grabbing the squid Digimon's attention before unleashing a Hurricane Gale on her.

"Why you! Stay dead!" Calmaramon shrieked, swiping a tactical at the Warrior but she easily flew under it to dodge and rushed in for a kick, causing the squid to lose her balance.

"You're not strong! You rely on other people for a boost of confidence and when you don't get it, you dispose of them like JP does with his candy wrappers." Zephyrmon floated down and unleashed a second Hurricane Gale with enough force to cut the Warrior of Water's hide and push her onto land.

Calmaramon righted herself before spitting out acid ink but the Warrior of Wind easily dispatched the attack with her own Plasma Pod attack.

"Real beauty comes from the inside and strength from standing for yourself and people you love."

Zephyrmon raced in for the final attack, easily dodging the weakened Digimon's attempts to stop her and unleashed a twin slash on the upper body, causing it to give way for the Fractal Code to appear around it.

The harpy drew back a few feet before evolving down into Kazemon and producing her D-tector and scanning the data and claiming the Spirits for herself. With her enemy gone, the fairy Digimon de-evolved into her human form and brushed away a tear for the fallen Honeybeemon.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't save you guys," she whispered before noting an orchid by her feet. She bent down to pick it up, carefully looking it over. The flower was dainty and beautiful but it was a haughty flower, that's what Mrs. Orimoto always taught her. "What a fitting flower for Ranamon," the blonde muttered before her eyes caught an eye similar to the one that had sent her to the forest and lakes. It was most likely the Italian's way out and without a second thought, she walked into it, discarding the flower and going to hopefully join her friends.

X:::::::::X

Kumamon did his best to dodge the flames and the lava lakes but it wasn't like fighting on the glacier back at Akiba Market; there was too much friction to easily ski away and the heat hampered the effectiveness of his ice balls and it sapped at his stamina and any ice attacks he sent at Asuramon, the Digimon would easily put up a fist of fire and cancelled the attack.

So, the bear was left to running and dodging fireballs and a well placed one sent him falling into a lava pit. In an attempt to cling to something, the Warrior formed his body into an icicle and gripped onto the wall and then expanded the ice to keep a better grip and dug into the rock like a tree roots. Above, Kumamon heard his opponent speaking aloud, cursing how he had lost the Spirits before looking down and spotting the spiky ice sticking to the wall.

Asuramon smirked. "Hot, no?" he asked, before the face switched to the yellow-masked one. "Give me your Spirits and I'll spare you, after all, we're friends, aren't we?"

Tommy gritted his teeth and he glared up at the three-faced demon. "No! You're not my friend! You just think about yourself! We were never friends to begin with!"

Asuramon set his four hands aflame and his eyes narrowed. "Tommy, you stupid idiot, give me your Spirits so I can save you!"

"NO!" Kumamon screamed, forcing his ice roots to dig upwards, breaking up the rock that Asuramon stood on and having it slide down his body down into the lava pit. With the enemy gone, the Warrior of Ice crawled towards land and gave one last look into the pit and turning away from what he once was.

A small smile crossed Tommy's face, making a mental promise to himself to thank Yutaka for showing him what he couldn't see until now and to apologize for being a pest all those years.

"I'm not dead yet!"

Kumamon spun around as flame walls barricaded his path to see Asuramon standing before him, the red-masked face glaring down at him. "You stupid bear, fire is my element! Do you think you alone can defeat me?" the demon laughed.

The hybrid Digimon simply smirked in response. "I'm not alone. I have my friends and I have my brother."

"Oh, then where are your friends and brother?" Asuramon taunted, the flames drawing closer. "No one can save you."

"Everyone's fighting, even if we're apart. I have to stand my own ground sometimes, I can't rely on everyone else to fight with me," Kumamon answered, holding up a hand and shouting out, "Slide Evolution!" Korikakumon stood in the smaller Digimon's place, embracing the power that he needed.

"Frozen Arrowheads!"

The dreadlocks wrapped themselves around the enemy and slammed him into the ground, causing the ring of fire to be snuffed out. The dreadlocks untangled themselves and Korikakumon faced Asuramon.

"Fist of Shiva!"

The fireballs were nimbly dodged by the large yeti with far more agility than its previous evolution had. Frustrated, Asuramon continued and the Ice Warrior took cover behind a boulder before summoning his twin axes.

"Come out, coward!"

Korikakumon was more than willing to follow the demand, leaping into the air and using the boulder as leverage. The demon fired off his attack but the yeti easily countered, blocking them with his weapons, swinging them wildly to snuff out the flames before landing on his opponent and slashing at him, causing the three faced Digimon to reveal his Fractal Code.

Korikakumon stepped back and Slide Evolved down into Kumamon and took out his D-tector and scanning the code and just before the shadow disintegrated, the face turned to the yellow-masked one, a wide smile on his face.

With the enemy gone, the Digimon reverted to his human form just in time to see an eye open up to his right. There was a chance that it would lead him to his friends or lead him to another unfriendly entity but the boy in the orange hat was willing to take a chance. After all, he wanted to see them again and thank them for being his friend.

**Chapter 24: End.**

**There's a bit of symbolism in here…hopefully you caught a bit of it. Zoe's part was heavily influenced by **_**Beastly**_** (book, not movie) by the fact that Zoe has a pity-party about being "beastly" on the inside and the connotation of the orchid is also borrowed from there but I think the idea of the rose also fits that (well, namely, the red rose. White roses are prettier!)**

**The title is borrowed from a song of the same name by Poets of the Fall with how the two are both toyed with by their fears and such and I thought it worked better for Ranamon at some parts as well. **

**So, yes, only four chapters left. Next is the chapter everyone's been waiting for: Koji vs. Koichi! That'll be followed by Takuya's battle and then the ending of the Sakkakumon arc before we arrive at the final battle with Cherubimon. Hope you can stick with me until the end!**


	26. Chapter 25: Oreta Tsubasa de

**A/N: Double updates~! Go ahead and read! 'kay, just another three chapters until the end...and an announcement.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 25: Oreta Tsubasa de

Gargoylemon had had some trouble with IceLeomon but, in the end, he managed to overcome the enemy without too much trouble when the upper hand was obtained; a Stone Bomber attack finished the humanoid lion off and the hybrid quickly took the Fractal Code before descending down to the frozen and snowy ground to try to continue looking for his friends. The D-tector received static instead of dots that would indicate his comrades were close and, so, the two partners were left to searching in the long and tedious way, however, Gargoylemon's search was quickly cut short as they found an eye much like the bunch that had separated them.

_I don't like this,_ Strabimon growled.

Koichi agreed with his partner's caution but there was something weird. "We all went into different eyes, Strabimon," answered the human. "They're probably in a different place. Remember that tunnel we were in? Maybe there are more places that they're connected to?"

_Just when we needed the mama gnome._

With that, the Digimon flew into the eye, hopeful to find their friends and ready for another scuffle.

X:::::::::X

Koji sat and waited rather impatiently, eyes fixed on the mirror featuring the enemy he wanted to fight as the gargoyle entered the Wind Sphere of Mercurymon's Beast Spirit, Sakkakumon. To claim it was beast-like in appearance was a stretch as it didn't resemble any other animal-like Digimon and instead loosely resembled a tree, however, its massive size made up for it and its ability to use "fake" Digimon like white blood cells made up for it, making this Beast Spirit was a perfect match to its Human Spirit.

The boy looked over the mirrors, noticing that two more had cracked to equal a total of six, two being cracked by the Warrior of Thunder and one by each of the other Warriors.

"I do believe I found my perfect opponent," Mercurymon said, smirking as a new mirror lit up with the image of the brunet in red.

The dark haired Warrior narrowed his eyes. _So, he drove out the other three,_ he noted, turning his eyes back to the mirror that showed his "copycat" and polar opposite. Those three humans were weak enough to fall to their weaknesses and from the little he had cared to think about them, there was nothing special about the blonde and the other two brunets. Alone, they showed no formidable powers and even in a group, there was much to be desired. The same could be said for the dark haired wannabe Warrior of Light but there was enough questions in Koji's mind and something he wanted to have helped keep enough interest in the boy alone and to remember his name: Koichi.

_I'll take my rightful destiny, Koichi,_ he thought, _and take yours as well._

X:::::::::X

_Stay alert_!

The warning was right in time too, as Gargoylemon jumped—causing him to lose balance and tumble and tuck into a roll—out of the way in time to dodge a sword that would have sliced him in half if the Digimon hadn't moved. The Warrior of Light rose to face a raven Digimon dressed as a swordsman with a sword in each hand, a Karatenmon.

"I know you, Koichi Kimura," said the raven, "you and your friend, Strabimon."

Koichi was taken aback. How did-?

_Duck!_

Gargoylemon did so, not anticipating that Karatenmon had used his surprise to the his advantage. As soon as he ducked, though, a volley of feathers that hit the white Digimon. The gargoyle Digimon winced but then called forth an angel statue and was about to command it to attack but the enemy Digimon was already cutting off the stone arm that wielded its staff. The statue dropped to the ground as Karatenmon turned to lock eyes with his opponent.

"I know just what you're planning," he said, pointing a sword at the Warrior of Light. "My training has allowed me to look into the very heart of my opponent."

_Let me take this clown out,_ Strabimon said. _I'm tired of this chicken already._

And Koichi let him gain control. Gargoylemon flew in, brandishing a claw to swipe at Karatenmon but the swords easily parried every strike. The boy heard a growl come out of his mouth as his partner's frustration rose and then unleashed a cold breeze from his wings, forcing the raven swordsman to the earth as his own wings froze. The body moved downwards, summoning stone statues that would fall on the Digimon and give him a chance to attack from behind. Gargoylemon threw a punch, only to have it collide with the sword.

"How?" the human and Digimon gaped in unison.

Strabimon, however, wasn't about to be deterred, as he was a fighter and a Warrior at that. He used the shared body's other free hand to put in a punch but the raven's head cocked to avoid the hit.

"I told you, I can read your heart." Karatenmon suddenly spun around, using his swords to fling the Warrior of Light into a tree.

Gargoylemon slumped to the ground and tried forcing himself up.

"Why don't you and your partner just give up and hand over the Spirit," the raven said, sheathing a sword and putting out his hand.

"No," Koichi answered, taking back control of his body.

The raven cocked his head. "Ah, that's right," he noted, narrowing his eyes as if he was figuring out a puzzle. "You wish to find your brother, Koji Minamoto and you feel that with the Spirit, you'll be able to bring him to his senses. And you do this because of your suffering mother."

Koichi flinched. He had never told any of his friends about his mother, yet Karatenmon was stating it as if it was an answer to a math problem.

"You want to do something for her because you feel helpless but then, you aren't really that brave, are you?"

Gargoylemon stood, using the tree as support. "What do you know?" he asked, anger beginning to fill his voice. Out of all things that could have been brought up in the Digital World…

"You're afraid that you haven't changed at all. You're afraid of slipping and failing because that's all you are under the kind exterior and the Warrior's skin."

"Shut up!" Boiling rage was beginning to fill Koichi's mind, denial of what was said and suppressed anger of how the dark haired boy used to be. He had changed, hadn't he? The fact that the boy was standing here fighting had to mean something; when he arrived, he'd always run and hide but now, Koichi fought with his friends. Yet, every time he had to face Koji, the Warrior found himself tongue tied, awkward, afraid.

Gargoylemon attempted a punch but it was deflect with the raven's sword.

"Afraid, aren't you? Always afraid? Afraid of letting people know your true feelings about what's going on? Or, is it something else?"

The two winged Digimon flew back, both unleashing a long distance attack. Cold winds froze the feathers, making them drop to the ground. The two combatants then returned to a hand-to-sword combat, swipes and punches being stopped by a whirlwind of steel. Somewhere, Karatenmon had gained an advantage and took out a white wing, making the gargoyle shriek in pain as he fell to the ground.

"Is it hatred? Envy the world around you? Your friends for the courage you lack, even that of a little boy that had been just as scared as you were?" The raven laughed, causing Koichi to reach his boiling point. "And your brother, you hate how he is and hate yourself for not being able to do anything to save him because in the end, you know you can't."

_Koichi, don't listen to him_, the Rookie's voice echoed in his mind but it fell onto deaf mind that was blinded by emotions as the dam that held back all the negative feelings was cracked, small spurts of emotion coming through. Strabimon could feel something rise and, for the first time in his short life, he was afraid, deathly afraid.

"SHUT UP!" Koichi screamed, a sudden black aura flaring from the white body and eyes becoming crimson red. He flew in, attacking wildly as if he had a pair of sword that were possessed with bloodlust. Claws hit blades but there was enough force to knock the blades out of Karatenmon's possession, leaving the raven to dodge the gruesome attacks that would have surely ended his life.

In the end, the raven's agility won out as his opponent grew tired, stamina dropping because of the anger that burned like oil on fire. His eyes widened as he peaked into the boy's heart, leaving him paralyzed.

"A Warrior of Light…so dark…"

"What does that mean?" the Warrior demanded, the aura that he wasn't aware of slowly decreasing in intensity as anger was replaced by confusion.

"An imbalance. You have more darkness than you do light, it's as if you're wearing someone else's armor that had been forcefully molded to you…" Karatenmon said, as if something just dawned on him. "It all makes sense…"

However, the swordsman wasn't able to say anything more, a black claw ending his life and taking his Fractal Code, leaving Gargoylemon standing in horror and with a handful of unanswered questions as Devimon stood before him.

"It's time we end this," he said and with that, the demon took flight, colliding into him and causing them to crash through an eye-shaped portal that had appeared behind him and transporting them into a new area.

Strabimon and Koichi de-evolved, having lost quite a bit of energy in their last fight. The boy raised his head, eyes searching for some sign of the devil that had brought him there but wherever they landed was too dark to see anything but what was within an arm's length. The darkness around him was almost suffocating, like walls closing in, something gripping his heart, a whispering demon close to getting what it wanted. Koichi reached for his D-tector, fumbling to snatch it up and flick a light on to dispel the feeling that had grabbed him but when the sanctity of the light he looked for was too bright and almost awkward. The Warrior shielded his eyes from the glare as he turned the light away and settled for the shadows that felt far more natural to him than either of the elements he was in.

The redirected light fell on Strabimon, causing him to raise a hand to muffle the light some as it hit his eyes. "Turn that off," the Digimon growled in a low voice, scrambling over to the boy and snatching the D-tector and hiding the light. The boy, wanting to keep the dread that was crawling back in his mind, tried reaching for the device but the dark haired boy's partner stopped him, turning gold eyes at the Warrior of Light. "The light will attract _him,_" he answered in a low whisper.

Koichi then nodded reluctantly, withdrawing his hand. They weren't ready to fight Koji at the moment: they needed to learn where they were and where their friends were. The two rose and, without anything else to do, just began walking in hopes of running into something. Their hunt came to little fruition, only finding a small patch of twilight courtesy of a lotus flower-shaped design. Koichi suddenly felt safer, more at home within the median of darkness and light.

"So, we are finally alone and face-to-face," the voice said, with an edge to it.

Koichi spun around, startled. "Koji," he breathed.

Koji narrowed his eyes and his lips stretched across his face into a dark smile. A chill ran down the other twin's back. There was something off, almost crazy; his eyes were almost hollow, cold…manic…

Strabimon stepped in front of his partner, almost protectively like a mother wolf protecting her cubs. "Where's your Gazimon?" he asked, glaring razors into the clouded blue orbs. Koichi blinked; he hadn't seen or heard a snide remark from the weasel Digimon since arriving.

Koji's head rolled sideways on his neck. "He's in his true form, as you will shortly be."

_True form?_ "Koji, you have to break ties with Cherubimon!" the Warrior of Light cried from behind the wolf Digimon. "You're really—"

"Human? One of you?" the other boy interrupted before giving out a short laugh. "I've already figured that one out. I know all that Cherubimon has told me was a lie, I know I'm human, just like you Koichi Kimura."

The addressed twin's heart filled with hope but suddenly sunk. Then, did he know-? "You know that I'm your brother?" he asked.

One of Koji's eyes twitched at the word. "Brother? Blood ties? Hardly," he scoffed. "Your just a copycat, a reflection, an illusion! And I want what you have!"

The manic boy took a step forwards, body poised ready to fight but Strabimon stood his ground. "I have no idea _what _you want but I won't let you lay a hand on my partner!" he growled, ready to intercept an attack.

"You'll see, Strabimon," Koji swore, backing up several paces and then Spirit Evolving into Devimon.

"Koji, wait!" Koichi tried again but when he got no answer save in the form of a string of cursed kanji. The boy had no choice: he had to fight him. In a flash of light, Gargoylemon stood ready to fight.

The demon flew forwards. The gargoyle flew out of the way, summoning an angel statue and sending it into battle. Devimon easily destroyed the statue before continuing onto Gargoylemon. A chase began; the two figures of opposing elements twirled in a graceless dance of loops and weaving, exchanging blows and attacks, some hitting and others not. The tempo kept but one dancer began to fall behind, mind occupied with confusion to a strange calling.

_Destiny shall be put right._

_You are…_

Koichi stopped, perplexed, but it was a second too long and got away from a beam of destructive energy at last minute thanks to Strabimon taking the body over. _What's the big idea? _the Digimon shouted, rubbing the burn acquired from the near collision.

_Strabimon…don't you feel it? _Koichi asked, looking towards Devimon. Gargoylemon dodged the second attack fired at them before unleashing a blast of freezing wind. _There's something strange going on. _Strabimon's silence answered his question; he could feel something strange albeit different from his partner.

"Finally realizing something?" questioned Devimon, his attacks pausing. The demon Digimon straightened up, red eyes narrowing.

"What are you talking about?" Gargoylemon half asked, half demanded. What was Koji talking about? Realize what? That he couldn't save his brother? Well, that was something that Koichi refused to believe!

"You don't yet?" The demon's face contorted into impatience and annoyance. "Well, then, I'll have to explain before I take the Spirit from you." With that, he de-evolved into his human form and signaled for Gargoylemon to join him. The two hesitated but eventually descended closer but still far enough away to be ready for an attack. Then, Koji began.

"Do you know why we are different from our 'comrades'?" he asked, using the last word with contempt. "We're both special, you see. Our Spirits acted differently to each of us: the Spirit of Darkness become Gazimon and the Spirit of Light became your _partner _Strabimon."

"Yeah, I know that, Koji," answered Koichi.

_Tell him to just get on with it!_ snapped Strabimon.

"But do you know _why_, copycat?" The boy in blue held up a white and black D-tector and clicked the button on one side, an off-white symbol appearing on it—the symbol for the Warrior of Light.

The Hybrid shook his head, the human counterpart confused about what was going on. However, the Digimon began making sense of it, _He has the Beast Spirit of Light!_

"What?"

Koji lowered his head, a knowing sneer crossing his face. "Beast Spirit Evolution." In a flash of light, a silver mechanical wolf with gold blades and accents stood in his place.

"How'd you—?" inquired the confused boy.

"Oh, but there's more," the machine Digimon interrupted. "Destiny spun out of control. Haven't you noticed that it's rather strange how you and I are the only ones that had 'partners'? Or haven't you thought that you weren't right for light? Don't you feel better in the _darkness_?"

Koichi furrowed his brows in confusion and frustration. "What are you getting at?" It was true that he felt more at peace in the shadows of the night but what did that mean?

Oh, how slow he was being.

"Are you the stupidest person out of your little friends? Here I thought it was the goggle boy. Don't you see, copycat? Strabimon was supposed to be mine, the Spirits of Light are _mine_!"

"And mine are the Spirits of Darkness? Why should I believe that? Just because you said so?" Koichi growled, for once the human and Digimon sharing the same emotions: denial, anger.

"Fine, I'll show you that I'm the true owner of the Spirit of Light as KendoGarurumon!" KendoGarurumon took off into the air, quicker than either had anticipated. Gargoylemon turned as the silver blur passed him in awe.

_This is bad._

_No duh!_

The flying Hybrid unleashed a freezing wind in hopes of slowing down the speeding machine but the blur easily maneuvered out of the way and came to a sliding stop before turning towards the winged Digimon and firing a white beam from its mouth with the shout of "Lupine Laser." Gargoylemon was quick to get out of the way but instead was a perfect target for KendoGarurumon as he zoomed passed, gold blades outstretched. The blade cut at his arm and wings. White feathers fell as the two de-evolved from the hit. Koichi clutched his arm that had earned a shallow cut that would have been deeper if he hadn't had the armor of the data where Strabimon's arm pixelating where he had been harmed.

KendoGarurumon came to a stop. "Don't you see now? I'm the true heir to the Spirits! You could never get such precision or speed! Give me what belongs to me!"

Strabimon growled as he helped his partner up, "I don't care if I truly belong to you, you ass, but I'm not budging! This is my comrade and I'll say he's better than you are!"

"Koji! Please stop!" Koichi pleaded but it fell on deaf ears.

KendoGarurumon lowered his head and growled in turn, "Then I'll just take it by force."

X::::::::::X

Cherubimon's eyes watched the scene take place before him on the blue flames. Things were spinning out of control because he allowed Koji to take a step to far from home; however, if he didn't know that, he never would have found out this strange truth.

The fallen angel turned yellow eyes towards a chained box behind him. There was no other choice; all his loyal Warriors were destroyed and Mercurymon was most likely doomed as well and Koji was the last one he still had any control over: he wasn't going to lose it, even at the risk of losing the strongest Spirit of the twenty.

This was, after all, what Koji would be after next.

X::::::::::X

Koichi and Strabimon were left to watch in confusion as the wolf hadn't yet attacked them like he had vowed. The two dared look, only to see a large black mass where their would-be killer was, as if two hands of darkness had clamped onto him. A bloodcurdling and pained scream caused the boy to rise suddenly.

"KOJI!" Koichi screamed, stretching out his hands to breakthrough the hands of darkness but he bounced off of it like it was made of rubber.

"Koichi, get away from there!" called Strabimon, racing forwards to join the human and pull him away but it was too late.

The orb exploded open, throwing the two away from the epicenter a great distance until they found themselves out of the twilight and back into the blinding and unnerving darkness. The two crawled back minutes later and were met by a giant being that looked like it was from horror story. A giant lizard towered above them with nothing left but bones, as if it had decayed away but was still alive. The only organs left were a heart and a giant rocket-shaped organ sticking out of its back.

Koichi shivered as fear pierced his heart and as a billion questions raced through his mind. What was that thing? Was it Koji? Was it going to kill them? The boy was shaken from his thoughts as he was pulled roughly to his feet by Strabimon.

"We have to get out of here," Strabimon said.

"But Koji—!" Koichi insisted.

"No, he's gone too far," the wolf Digimon said. "We need to get out of here. We can't save him!"

The dark haired human's eyes began to sting as they held back frustrated tears. "What makes you say that?" he demanded, jerking his head from the giant beast towards the Digimon.

The humanoid wolf had a solemn and hard expression. "Because I know! It's hard to explain but I just _know_ it. I can _feel _it, Koichi."

The two partners were interrupted when the creature roared the same pained cry that Koji had when he was in the orb of darkness. They, on their survival instincts, ran into the cover of the darkness. Koichi noted how strange it was how he was running into the cover of darkness that he had trembled at the thought of going into.

"Dark Shot!"

Everything from there went in slow motion. First, it was the roar of fire as something flew forwards. Dark blue eyes turned to watch as Strabimon turn, a hand extended to push Koichi away and foot beginning to glow white. He felt the shove. Then wind kicked up as the orb turned in an arc. It met something solid…then…everything returned to living speed.

_BOOOOOOOOOOM!_

Caught in the flash and rocketing explosion, Koichi, flying from the force of the explosion, thought he could hear a pitiful and dying howl…

Landing hard, barely conscious, and hurting all over, Koichi willed himself to stay awake, trying to not fall victim to the lizard. His blurred vision caught a blue-green glow of what he could think was a Fractal Code—his Fractal Code. _I…gotta…_ He couldn't move anymore and it took all his energy to keep awake and even that was a chore.

He could hear a muffled scream of the giant lizard that had been his brother and the vibrations of its steps as it came closer.

This would surely be the end. Karatenmon had been right: he feared being unable to save his brother and his fear was coming true. Was this the end?

It was funny how bitter things would turn out. How would his mother deal with her son being gone for a long time? She'd be sick with worry and work harder in order to find him. All Koichi wanted was for his mother to smile sincerely, be truly happy with a complete family that she had been denied all those years ago with the divorce he never knew about. That was all he wanted. Why couldn't the damn universe just allow that? This couldn't be the end! No, not yet!

But what could he do?

Koichi began slipping. His senses began numbing and becoming faint. The glow disappearing as it faded to black…

X::::::::::X

_Koichi Kimura, this is not the end yet._

The black was pierced by something bright, a strange symbol that he recognized…Ophanimon's emblem?

"Koichi Kimura, are you there?" asked the worried female voice.

"Yes? Ophanimon?"

"Yes, young one. I'm glad I made it in time… There's something you need to know," she began quickly but Koichi cut in.

"Is Strabimon dead?" he asked quickly.

"I am so sorry, Koichi," Ophanimon apologized, her voice full of sympathy. "Strabimon was destroyed when SkullGreymon's rocket hit him and now, your friend is in his true form."

Koichi gasped and his mind shook with anguish. "Am I meant to be alone?" he screamed. "First my father and my brother leave me and then my grandmother dies! Koji was lost to that spirit and now Strabimon's gone! WHY?"

"Koichi," her voice began gently, "you are not alone. Listen! Your friends are praying and scared for you!"

And then he heard their cries, their screams, as if anguished and horrified. "Koichi, please get up! Hang in there! Don't go!" Tears rolled down Koichi's face. That's right, he had his friends: Takuya, Zoe, JP, Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon. He wasn't alone… "I'm sorry, everyone," he whispered.

There was silence for a minute before it was broken by Ophanimon's urgent voice. "Koichi, I am so sorry to ask this of you but you must trade places with Koji. You are the Warrior of Darkness; you are the true owner of those Spirits. When SkullGreymon took the Spirit of Light, the two Spirit's essence began fighting for control, causing an imbalance in him."

"So…everything Koji said was true?"

"Yes."

Koichi remained silent for a moment. "What'll happen if I do nothing?"

"Koji Minamoto will be torn apart," Ophanimon answered. "If you do trade places, Koji will be free from the Spirits of Darkness and be free of its corruption and he will regain his memories."

The human brows fell. "Will…will I be lost in the corruption?" he asked hesitantly.

"I am so, so sorry, Koichi. I never wanted this to happen but it's our only option to save your brother."

Koichi stood for a moment, weighing his options, and when he came to his decision, a sad smile crossed his face.

"I…I am so sorry…"

X::::::::::X

The martyr rose, awoken from his dream and fully energized thanks to a beam of light. And he walked, footsteps breaking the silence.

_Mom, I'm not coming home._

_Thank you, Takuya, for encouraging me._

_Thank you, Zoe and Tommy, for showing me many ways of being strong and brave._

_Thank you, JP, for remaining with us even though something was wrong._

_Bokomon and Neemon, thank you for guiding us through this strange land._

_I don't think I'm going to be coming to my senses after this. So…I'm so…sorry but…this is for the best…_

_I'm not afraid!_

The boy broke through the orb of clashing white and black, tears streaming down his face even with the smile on his face.

_I'm not afraid…_

Koichi reached for his twin, caught in the mess and entanglement of light and darkness as it fought and tumbled, retracting before colliding again. The captive peaked open a pained eyes, the haze appearing and disappearing from the dark blue orbs.

"Who…who are you?" Fear traced the words. Vulnerability was there too. The eyes caught the tears in the other's face. "Why…are you crying?"

"It'll be over soon," Koichi said, keeping his voice from trembling. He had never seen his brother so scared, like a child huddling under a blanket.

"I'm scared," Koji whispered. "It…it hurts."

"It'll end, Koji." _I promise!_ Koichi wrapped comforting arms around the warm body. Now, his mind turned in fear but he kept it in check. "It's okay…it'll all be over soon," he croaked, biting his lip.

The light and darkness around them began to stop fighting, slowing their spin before taking two sides, pure of the other.

It was time.

Koichi let go of his brother and willingly let the darkness pull him away, ignoring the cries from the terrified Koji as he disappeared. Darkness covered his vision.

_Koji, please, stop Cherubimon with the others and…have a better life than I will ever have._

His mind was wiped as corruption and power overran the human, covering him in a coffin that was buried in the dirt of the darkness. The martyr left to die.

**Chapter 25: End.**

***runs and cries in a corner* Heavy inspiration drawn from the last message of the martyr of Purin's Lullaby, an ARG that captivated my attention all week. The ending was…just down right bittersweet. Koji doesn't remember Koichi in the ending bit because his mind is in turmoil at the moment and he isn't able to access information and memories.**

**By the by, I've noticed that in fanfiction, it's always Koji coming to Koichi's protection or aid and any time Koji needs help, it's always when Koichi is corrupted or possessed…well, I'm broke that hopefully. Hope this was a good read in terms of greatness that everyone was hoping for. ^^;**


	27. Chapter 26: The Final Curtain Call

**A/N: So…we're getting close to the end. Only about three more chapters left…oh, my. Anyway, thanks to Martiny, Impstar, Asarikou-chan, Immortal Fallen Radiance, KatLovesAnime2011, madjack89, and Starowner for giving feedback. RIP Strabimon.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier, at all!**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 26: The Final Curtain Call

Despite the menacing features of the giant green parrot, its abilities was never fully shown either that it saw little in terms of Agunimon's capabilities or the bird itself lacked them, but either way, it went down with barely a fight, leaving the Warrior of Flame to scan it's Fractal Code and be left to wander around for to look for the rest of his friends. He tried contacting them but received only static, making the boy beneath the armor far more worried then he had been previously. He put away his D-tector and began looking around on foot with little to no luck.

"Tommy! Zoe! JP! Koichi! Strabimon! Anyone there?" Agunimon yelled but only received his echo as an answer. Worry swelled in him like a violin would crescendo. Was everyone all right? _It's like the time where we were separated because of my stupid mistake,_ Takuya thought bitterly, banging a clenched fist into a nearby rock wall.

"Thou art alone?" a familiar voice said condescendingly. The Warrior looked up to see the shield-wielding Mercurymon standing between him and an eye portal with a wide smirk on his face.

Takuya growled, spinning around and readying a fire attack. "Mercurymon! I should've known that I'd find another one of Cherubimon's Warriors! Where are my friends?"

Mercurymon simply smirked, and turned, waving for him to follow before stalking into the portal. Agunimon ran after the Warrior, arriving in a giant chasm that was littered with mirrors that varied from six feet to almost twenty feet tall. Looking around, the Warrior tried finding his foe but the knight had disappeared among the glass. He frowned, turning around and finding himself before a large wall imbedded with ten mirrors in the shape of a tree. Seven of them were cracked, leaving the center, the top most, and the one to its right untouched. The Warrior studied it for a minute, confused by what it meant.

"Thou hast foundeth my looking glass, nay?"

Agunimon spun around and met Mercurymon's gaze with a glare. "Where am I and where are my friends?" he demanded, his voice low and threatening but Mercurymon ignored it, the Warrior of Steel's confidence putting the human-Digimon on edge.

The Warrior of Steel waved his hand and indicated to a nearby mirror. "Thy friends art well and safe. For now."

Agunimon's blue eyes fell on the mirror's surface, spotting three human figures that were his friends alongside Bokomon and Neemon. He narrowed his eyes; one was missing. "Where's Koichi?"

Mercurymon smirked again, waving his hand again, the image shown on the glass changed to that of a set of twins in twilight with Strabimon close to the one with shorter hair. _Shit,_ Takuya thought, taking off and dashing past Mercurymon. Koichi wouldn't be able to last too long on his own against Koji. He had to figure out a way to get to his friend so they'd at least have a fighting chance against Devimon!

Agunimon took a turn but was forced to stop as he hit something smooth and solid, causing him to land on his butt and rub his face. Cursing to himself about how he should've paid more attention, the Warrior looked up and was surprised to see Mercurymon standing halfway out of a mirror, arm extended. The Warrior of Steel stepped out of the glass surface and chuckled. "I welcome thee to my domain, but—ah!—thou hath been in my domain all along! 'Tis my Beast Spirit that thee and thy _friends_ have fought in."

The Warrior of Fire exhaled. "What do you want?"

"To defeat thee, destroy thy friends, and take over the Digital World after acquiring the Spirits."

Agunimon snorted, tired of the chitchat and sprang at the knight Digimon like a cat to a mouse but the target disappeared too quickly for him to land an attack. Agunimon somersaulted to his feet and looked wildly around for Mercurymon. Left, right, behind—the Warrior of Steel was nowhere in sight. "Fight like a man!" Agunimon shouted, agitated. He needed to get this over with and quickly.

"Men doth fight dirty," Mercurymon chuckled from behind him, causing the hybrid to spin around and unleash a flaming punch but, instead of colliding with his enemy, it instead hit a mirror, cracking the surface.

_Where—? _A jab at his ribs cut Agunimon's thoughts short. He crumpled to the ground, holding where the blow struck as searing pain raced through his mind. The Warrior looked up to see his foe looking down on him with a sinister smirk on his face.

"Thou art weak if that's all thee has," he taunted, causing Agunimon to growl like an angry dog. The Warrior of Steel bent down and roughly grabbed the injured human-Digimon hybrid by his blond hair and pulled him to his feet, putting Agunimon's face only an inch from his own. "Hand over thy Spirits and I wilt spare thee from a slow death."

Takuya was slightly intimidated but he kept his courage and used it to fuel his flames in his gauntlets. They flared to life and consumed Agunimon's fists. He aimed a blow right for the mirror face, hitting it with enough force to crack it. Mercurymon cried out, letting go of his enemy as he backed up, hands over the area where the punch had contacted.

With the lack of support, Agunimon teetered a little and fought to regain his balance. When he finally got it back, the Warrior of Flame looked up and at his enemy. Bits of glass fell out of place, revealing nothing but a black void behind the glass. _What the hell is he?_ Agunimon wondered for a second before re-gathering his wits. Now was the perfect chance! The Warrior of Flame dashed in, allowing the fire from his gauntlets to consume him as he spun around with a wild battle cry before he unleashed a powerful roundhouse kick.

There was a deafening crack as the kick hit and sent Mercurymon flying into a mirror. The Warrior of Steel melted into it, leaving behind a broken mirror-shield that Takuya deduced that it had taken the blow instead of its owner. Leaving the mirror, Agunimon then began pursuing his foe, being careful to check every mirror and destroy it so Mercurymon couldn't come at him. It was about five minutes when the Warrior of Fire finally took a stop to catch his breath.

"Peek-a-boo!"

Agunimon spun around to see Mercurymon with a deep frown on his face as the Warrior of Steel exited a mirror. "I hath underestimated thee," he said, seriousness finally entering his voice for the first time.

"Then how about we finish this off!" shouted Agunimon, unleashing a flaming ball from his fist.

Mercurymon smirked. "And thou hast done the same. Remember this? Dark Reflection!" The fire was absorbed by the shield and then re-released the flames so they consumed the shield before it was flung towards the Warrior of Fire. He deflected it but hadn't counted on the Warrior of Steel to go in for a punch to the stomach. Agunimon, once again, crumpled to the ground, completely winded and cursing himself for forgetting the mirror's ability to reflect attacks. How could he have been so stupid to forget about that very technique that had killed Seraphimon?

The Warrior of Flame looked up to see Mercurymon catch his mirror, which had lost its flame coat, and put it back on his arm. He looked down at the collapsed foe and smirked, as if he now knew how this battle would end. "Now, follow me to the next chapter," the Warrior of Steel said, walking away from Agunimon and into a portal.

Even with his aching ribs, the Warrior forced himself up, grimacing as he tried to ignore the pain and jaunted after his enemy. When he passed through the portal, he found himself in a strange area that seemed rather small compared to the other areas he had been in. It was a large room filled with rows of benches and a towering and elaborate organ that were brightly lit from above by several large windows in the ceiling, reminding Takuya of a cathedral that he had been in a few times when family friends were married and at the same time, how the lighting worked, the room also reminded him of a stage that was in use at the time for a play.

And he was the actor, playing a character that was walking into danger.

Agunimon walked slowly down the closest isle, looking around. There was no way that the knight could have an advantage as there were no mirrors for him to phase into and out of.

"Welcome to the final act," Mercurymon called from the front most bench. At that moment, the organ ran through a short piece, making Agunimon's hair stand on end.

"All right, I'm sick of this, Mercurymon!" shouted the Warrior of Fire, his gauntlets flared with embers. "Let's finish this, now!"

"So hasty aren't thee?" the addressed Digimon inquired, rising. "Fine, then." He snapped his fingers and Agunimon prepared for the worst. The only indication the Warrior of Flame had that something was coming down on him was the crash and the sprinkling of glass that came from above, and on instinct, he moved as quickly as he could. When out of harms way, Agunimon looked up and gasped.

There, before him was a transparent figure of Seraphimon, tangled up in a red vine with purple aconitum flowers. The image occasionally flickered to a stream of data in inconsistent intervals.

"It's…Seraphimon," the Warrior of Fire managed to say. "How…how is he here?"

Mercurymon chortled. "What thee sees is nothing but the data of Seraphimon. I held onto it just for a strong opponent and now, it wilt destroy thee and the world he fought for."

The red vines that held onto the data disinagrate when the evil Warrior snapped his fingers, causing the image of the blue armored angel to disappear and turn into data that Mercurymon greedily absorbed. All the Warrior of Flame could do after that was watch as Mercurymon's form changed, his face mirror became whole again before the knight's metal figure shifted into Seraphimon's armor with Mercurymon's coloration. Five pairs of devil wings sprouted from his back. He announced his name: ShadowSeraphimon.

Agunimon grimaced. Things were going to get hard here.

"And now, thine requiem starts playing as the climax begins."

"I won't let that happen."

The devil knight took to the air and Agunimon quickly Slide Evolved into BurningGreymon in hopes to get more of an edge, however, the boy under the armor knew that it just might not be enough. Seraphimon was a ruler of the Digital World and so, Takuya knew that he had to be careful and not get in the path of any of his attacks.

"Strike of the Seven Dark Stars!"

Seven black orbs appeared in ShadowSeraphimon's hands and then they were unleashed with amazing agility. BurningGreymon took to the air, narrowly avoiding the attack. The great dragon began flying in circles like a vulture, firing fireballs from his cannons but the devil knight easily countered with the small dark stars. One had managed to make it passed the fireballs and it clipped BurningGreymon's wing, causing him to cry out in pain as he fell to the ground, crushing the wood benches beneath him.

_This isn't good._ He had to be quick and get in a powerful blow before ShadowSeraphimon could create the seven orbs of darkness. His best bet was to rush the devil, using fireballs as a distraction; so, BurningGreymon went for it. He unleashed a barrage of fireballs and the devil knight easily used his attack to cancel out the other's. In the midst of the collision of power, BurningGreymon flew through, hoping to be able to land a strong claw attack but the lack of the presence of his opponent made the dragon stop in his tracks and look around for him.

"Strike of the Seven Dark Stars!" The call of the attack caused BurningGreymon to leap forwards in a desperate attempt to dodge the seven orbs.

Too late.

The orbs dug into his back, causing Takuya to scream out in pain as it penetrated the armor and dragon hide. He felt his form give out, leaving the human behind and vulnerable. Between the wrenching pain from the attack, the boy could feel something warm coming from his back and soak through his shirt and into his vest.

Oh, why had he been stupid? Even with his caution, he sUntil wouldn't have been able to stand against ShadowSeraphimon but he had to keep fighting for the others! He tried getting up but his numb limbs failed him.

The light was then obscured as a shadow fell over him. Takuya dared to look up and found ShadowSeraphimon standing over him, like a vengeful ghost. Fear coursed through him. He wanted to run, wanted to fight, but his legs refused to move and his arms failed to respond. _No… _He didn't want this to be the end.

The devil reached for him and grabbed him by the head, raising the boy into the air. The organ began playing a slow and haunting song that rang in Takuya's ears, a song of death and destruction. A song of the ugly ending that he never wanted.

"And the climax comes to a close. Thou shalt die here, alone," the voice echoed, breaking the organ's music.

Tears stung the boy's eyes as he remembered his brother and his friends. _I'm sorry…I guess I'm not any stronger than I was…_ The Warrior of Fire's breathing became short as he struggled with the sobs and feelings of uselessness. In the distance, he could've sworn he heard voices. He couldn't make out what they were saying but Takuya could definitely say that they were scared… _Please, go…_

He felt ShadowSerpahimon move and then his ears caught the striking creak of moving hinges. Then, the boy felt the great hand let go of him, tossing him onto something hard as light filled his vision, but only for a second as a door was closed, leaving him in perpetual darkness.

Finally, Takuya's will forced his arms to move and he reached forwards, hands feeling the smooth underside of a lid—a lid to a coffin. More tears ran down his face as he heard ShadowSeraphimon's voice say, "And now, thou shalt hear the dying cries of thy friends."

"No," he said, weakly. Takuya struggled to open the lid but his strength was barely there and his arms gave out again, falling back to his sides uselessly. "I…have to…" _But what can I do?_

True. What could he do? His strength had run out and he was no match for ShadowSeraphimon. _I-I have to try…but what can I do…?_

"_More than you think, little one."_

Something warm began filling Takuya. He closed his eyes and strangely found himself in light instead of shadows. _What…?_ he thought.

"_Don't you want to keep fighting?"_

The voice spoke directly to his heart. He looked around for the source of the voice and before him, he saw the figures of his Spirits, the Human and the Beast Spirit.

"_Don't you want to keep fighting?"_ the voice repeated.

Takuya nodded.

"_Then what are you fighting for?"_

_My friends and the future that needs to be protected._

Both figures smiled. _"Good answer."_

Takuya snapped his eyes open, fire coming out of the air and then combusting with enough force to blow the coffin lid off its hinges and send it flying. The boy rose from the burning coffin, feeling as if he had just survived hell and was granted all the powers of heaven itself. Determination welled in his mind and courage in his heart.

His eyes fell on the shocked figure of ShadowSeraphimon. They narrowed dangerously, issuing a challenge to the devil. "That's far enough, Mercurymon," he growled. "I'm taking you down, here and now! I won't let you hurt my friends!" He pulled out his D-tector, Seraphimon's symbol appearing on the screen.

"Fusion Spirit Evolution!" Flames consumed him as a new power rolled through his veins that had the intensity of the Beast Spirit but the smoothness of the Human Spirit and when the flames died, the new form reflected this fusion. Aldamon, the fusion of the two opposites that rested in the boy's control, had the body of BurningGreymon and the forearms and head of Agunimon, with crimson armor and gold cannons on his arms.

ShadowSeraphimon was taken aback, startled by the new transformation of his opponent. However, he regained his poise, announcing, "No matter what form thee taketh, I shalt defeat thee!"

"We'll see!" Aldamon answered, glowering.

With that, the two great titans took to the air, unleashing attacks at length. Larger fireballs collided with the black stars, exploding in a fantastic shower of energy. The devil Digimon was left to gape at his enemy's newly acquired power as he flew towards the Digimon, whipping his tail to send ShadowSeraphimon crashing into the wall. Aldamon dashed after his opponent and unleashed a barrage of blows, denting and bending the armor with each powerful blow. ShadowSeraphimon waved an arm while the red armored Digimon was in mid-strike, creating a shock wave to send the Digimon flying backwards.

Aldamon regained his balance as he crashed into the organ, causing it to topple with a sickening snap as wood and steel gave way. "Say hello to the anti-climax!" Aldamon called, bring his hands together and gathered energy into a small ball and it quickly began to expand.

ShadowSeraphimon gathered his own energy, ready to cancel the ball of fire with the tiny black stars.

"Solar Wind Destroyer!"

"Strike of the Seven Dark Stars!"

The small ball of fire that Aldamon had gathered in his hands became the size of a miniature sun upon release and the small black stars stood no chance against it, leaving ShadowSeraphimon to be consumed by the massive ball. It burned away the armor, leaving the body a silhouette with the ring of Fractal Code circling the body. The Warrior of Fire pulled out his D-tector and scanned the code, taking Mercurymon's Human Spirit and Seraphimon's data.

Finally, it was over. He was victorious but now was no time to celebrate; he had to make sure his friends were safe and he had to find Koichi.

And his wish was quickly fulfilled; a portal opened and Aldamon was quick to take it.

X::::::::::X

The three humans were glad to see that one of their comrades had managed to make it out. Tommy, JP, and Zoe followed by Bokomon and Neemon raced over to Takuya as he de-evolved from his Fusion form. Tommy was quick to wrap his arms around the returning victor (and as was Zoe, much to JP's sadness).

"Thank God your alive!" the Warrior of Thunder said, patting Takuya on the back. The blonde and the youngest brunet were quick to echo their agreement.

"We saw your fight with Mercurymon, Takuya! You were awesome!" Tommy shouted, bouncing up and down.

Takuya held back a blush as he chuckled awkwardly. The Warrior of Wind backed up a step and her expression turned worried. "Takuya, was Koichi with you?" she asked, urgently.

Takuya shook his head quickly. "He isn't here?"

"No," Bokomon said, pointing upwards to a sphere behind them. "The last we saw, Koichi was in that sphere fighting Koji but it suddenly went dark a few minutes before you arrived but nothing has come out."

The four humans frowned, worried.

"Hey, why is there a firework in your pants?" Neemon suddenly interrupted the silence, pointing towards Takuya's pocket that had begun to glow. The said boy pulled out his D-tector just as a stream of data erupted from it and flowed over to the blue egg in Bokomon's belt. Seraphimon's egg began to glow and Bokomon in turn began to scream, frightening all the children. They began trying to help the gnome but were all at a loss until the egg began raising out of the belt before it morphed into a large orange gerbil with a tan underbelly, bat-like wings sticking out of its head, and a belly warmer much like the Digimon that had been carrying the hatchling around. It's big blue eyes blinked as it floated down to the ground and noted the humans.

"Ah, my boy hatched!" Bokomon cried tearfully, earning a few raised eyebrows.

Tommy was the first to approach the small Digimon. "Hey, are you Seraphimon?" he asked, blinking as the two exchanged a look.

"No, I'm Patamon," answered the small Digimon with a large smile. "Maybe I'll evolve into a Seraphimon?"

"Maybe," agreed Zoe, as she walked over to the newly hatched Digimon. She scooped it up in her arms and cuddled it, saying something quick in Italian.

Patamon stayed in her arms for a few minutes before it turned in her arms and sang, "Light's coming~!" The news made the four human smile. Koichi was coming! He was all right and safe!

However, their hopes were dashed when they turned around and saw not Koichi staggering towards them but Koji. He looked troubled and startled and decently scratched up.

Takuya was the first to step away from the group, as he had the strongest form out of all of them. "What are you doing here? Where's Koichi?" he demanded, glaring at the boy in blue and was surprised that in turn, Koji turned his head away in shame. Rage further filled his body and he closed the few yards between the group and the Warrior of Darkness and grabbed him roughly by the collar. "Where's Koichi?" the goggle head demanded again, his brown eyes piercing the blue ones.

"Let go of me!" Koji shouted, pushing the brunet off of him. Takuya was about to grab him again but Zoe's hand took a place on his shoulder in order to hold him back.

"Let me try," she said before carefully approaching Koji. Her face was softer than her friend's but sUntil wore the suspicion. "Do you know where Koichi is, Koji?" she asked, her voice soft and without the hint of a threat. This seemed to help calm the boy in the bandana.

"I…I don't know…" he answered, voice heavy with guilt. "The last I saw, your friend had taken his rightful destiny."

"What does that mean?" JP inquired.

Patamon broke free of Zoe's hold and rested on Koji's head with a large smile. "This is the Light Boy," he explained with a childish smile but this left the group in even more confusion.

"Can anyone explain this?" the Warrior of Thunder cried but no one had a chance to, as the giant Beast Spirit began to move. It formed itself into a mass of spheres with a sphere with a mouth on it faced the group.

"Thou thought thee had killed me? Thou hast forgotten my Beast Spirit, Sakkakumon!" it shrieked in Mercurymon's voice. "Now, I shalt kill all of thee! Including thee, Koji Minamoto!"

"What the hell?" shrieked Takuya. "How's it moving?"

"Because you didn't take the Beast Spirit, genius!" Koji explained, earning a glare from the Warrior of Fire.

The five prepared to fight but a blood-curdling scream stopped the procession. Seven pairs of eyes moved upwards, meeting the massive bird that looked like it had came from hell itself. It screeched again, bringing to mind an omen of death and loneliness, before turning its gaze to Sakkakumon. The gigantic beast stood no chance against the bird as it unleashed a simple beam with a cry of "Dark Vortex." The laser passed through the spheres and impacted the center on, bringing out the Fractal Code. The hellbird took the data and the Beast Spirit before circling the air above the humans, giving of a cry of victory that contradicted itself, as there was a hint of mourning to it.

"Okay, what the hell is that?" shouted JP, pointing to the Digimon in the sky.

Bokomon had gone pale and Neemon and Patamon both shivered in fear. "T-that's V-V-Velgemon," the gnome explained, not bothering to bring out the book. Just from the distance he was at, the scared Digimon knew what he was looking at. "T-the great beast of darkness and death.

**Chapter 26: End.**

**Okay, the coffin part was totally inspired by a comment I had seen on the Youtube video when I first watched this episode, saying how it would have been more epic if Takuya had been put in the coffin and then broke out and then Fusion Spirit Evolved. I liked the idea a lot and decided to use it. The specialness of the aconitum mentioned in this chapter was for their meaning; in the Victorian language of flowers, aconitum means beware and as Mercurymon speaks in a Shakespearean accent, I thought it rather fits as Shakespeare knew the language of flowers pretty well.**


	28. Chapter 27: Dark Wings

**A/N: Man, this wasn't exactly to plan but I'm rather glad it didn't turn out that way. XD Anyway, thanks to cherrysakura, madjack89, Immortal Fallen Radiance, Asarikou-chan, Martiny, and shadowluvr13 for reviewing. This chapter's title is heavily inspired by a song by Within Temptation with this exact title. I feel it rather fits Koichi's plight.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own and will NEVER own Digimon Frontier, as surely as my name is -censored-!**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 27: Dark Wings

The five children and the three Digimon watched the bird circle overhead, feeling like mice about to be gulped up by a raptor. "What is Velgemon?" the youngest Warrior asked, fear trembling in his voice despite the far more terrifying things he had faced.

"Velgemon is the Beast Spirit of Darkness," Bokomon explained. "Legend says that the first occurrence of the use of the Spirits, Velgemon had threatened the world and it took all the Warriors to bring the hellbird down."

"Wait, there were people using the Spirits before us?" called Takuya, rather surprised.

"They were Digimon," the bookkeeper answered.

Any chance at further discussing the legend that the gnome Digimon spoke of was interrupted when the creature let out a scream and dove down towards the humans. They scattered and when Velgemon circled back around, the bird was met by elemental attacks from four Beast Spirits and an Advance Hybrid. The attacks were enough to annoy the Digimon and have it change its course upwards and it didn't come down which allowed the Warriors, the three Digimon, and Koji to regroup.

"That thing took our attacks like it was nothing," Zephyrmon said, worriedly.

"Why is it just staying up there?" Aldamon wondered aloud, rather confused by the Digimon's continuing circles.

"Bokomon," Neemon began, poking the gnome Digimon in the back of the head but gained no reaction until the small rabbit Digimon continued for a few times and earned himself a rightful swat to the head.

"This is a serious moment, Neemon!" shouted Bokomon before he looked up at the Digimon, worried.

"We can't wait for it to make the first move," MetalKabuterimon shouted, rolling forwards. Korikakumon was quick to agree and the two fired attacks at the bird. The attack hit its target and the bird gave a cry of anger…and it almost sounded hurt about this. Velgemon hovered in place and glared down at the two. Koji noted that it seemed almost human, bewildered and angry.

The bird gave off another scream before flying down and firing a violet beam from a third eye on its forehead. As it passed over them, the humans thought they heard a mournful cry of why that was drowned out by the wind, as if it knew them…

Velgemon turned back around with a full ferocity, and bee-lined for them. The Warriors, Digimon, and human scattered again but Velgemon kept on its prey, like a raptor chasing after a rabbit. The rabbit ducked down and the claws that wished to tear him apart missed his body. Koji looked up and saw the bird overhead.

Why was it after him? The hellbird was persistent, hell-bent on him…but why? It was just like… A dark-haired preteen jumped to Koji's mind and his eyes grew wide.

"_Velgemon is the Beast Spirit of Darkness."_

"_Don't you feel better in the darkness?"_

_It__…__can__'__t__be__…_ Koji followed the dark bird with his eyes as the realization dawned on him and left the boy petrified, even as Velgemon moved, creating a circle in the earth with the tip of its wings. _No__…_

"Dark Obliteration!" The bird screamed, flourishing its wings and flying upwards. Dark violet walls erupted from the earth and began moving upwards in the form of a dome. Even with this going on, Koji still was rooted to the spot. If it wasn't for Zephyrmon and her attribute of wind that granted her swiftness in the air, Koji would have been killed by the force of the energy unleashed when the walls closed.

"Koji, why didn't you move?" she asked, almost agitated. Wasn't he the Warrior of Darkness? Why wasn't he fending for himself or Spirit Evolving? Zephyrmon, however, received no answer from the bundle in her arms, who looked like he had seen a ghost.

The two joined Aldamon, who sent a glare at the boy. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" the Fusion Hybrid demanded.

The bird screeched and turned to come back at them, claws outstretched. Aldamon turned to meet him firing a barrage of fireballs that glanced off the bird but Velgemon kept its track. It knocked Aldamon sideways with its beak before turning after him, hovering over the fallen Warrior of Fire. Aldamon made an attempt to attack it but stopped short when he heard the Beast of Darkness speak.

"Takuya, why do you defend him?"

Aldamon's mouth dropped. How did this Digimon know his name? "W-who are you?" he demanded, trying to hide his shock. Velgemon cried angrily, turning back into the air and flying at the other Warriors that surrounded Koji and easily knocked them aside.

Aldamon got to his feet and took back to the air and joined his friends as they attempted to stand up. "That thing knew my name!" he shouted.

"He knew you?" Zephyrmon asked. "That explains a lot."

"Do you know who he is?" Korikakumon inquired. "Maybe if we know who the bird is, maybe we can help them?"

MetalKabuterimon paused for a second. "But…aren't the Spirits of Darkness Koji's?" he said suddenly. The Warrior of Thunder wasn't able to further go into his explanation as Velgemon turned back to attack them. The Warriors fired their own attacks but they had no effect on deterring the Digimon and so, the Warriors decided to run.

Once on the move with the Digimon and Koji in hand, the Warrior of Ice—who had Slide Evolved down into Kumamon in order to be carried for a quicker getaway—continued, "Yeah, Koji, do you know who has that Beast Spirit?"

"How about where Koichi and Strabimon are?" Aldamon added rather angrily. Koji looked away at first and remained hesitant. "Fine, how about you fight with us then as Velgemon wants your head just as much as it wants ours?" The Warrior of Fire said, his irritation reaching its peaking point.

"I…I can't fight him," Koji answered.

"Why _not_?"

"I caused him to become Velgemon!" the human explained, nearly shouting desperately.

"Who?" Zephyrmon asked quickly.

"Koichi Kimura!"

Shocked silence fell over the Warriors. "C-can you repeat that?" asked Kumamon, eyes wide.

"I caused Koichi Kimura to turn into Velgemon!" Koji repeated; his shameful eyes were fixed on the moving ground as he rode on MetalKabuterimon along with the Rookie Digimon.

"Then…where's Strabimon?" asked Bokomon. In response, Koji held up his D-tector and that was all they needed for an answer.

"This is why I can't fight."

Zephyrmon landed on MetalKabuterimon's back and de-evolved into her human form, an angry glower on her face. She then smacked Koji with enough force to leave his cheek stinging even after several seconds. "What a poor excuse!" she shrieked, taking Koji's jacket in her hands and pulling him only a few inches from her face so she could look him in the eye. "Koichi risked his life for you and he apparently brought you back to your senses but then you tuck tail and turn away when he needs you! Is this how you're going to repay him?"

"I…"

"Don't give me that crap where you don't want to make a bigger mess!" Zoe interrupted him. "Us just trying to save your sorry hid has made this a bigger mess as it is!"

"Don't forget you started it," MetalKabuterimon spoke up but Zoe quickly silenced him by shouting something in Italian.

Koji looked down and then up at the hellbird that was chasing them. Koichi had friends, he had none. Normally, Koji had never cared about others and their relationships but things had happened and as time fell in an hourglass, things changed and he was no exception. A bond that Koji had refused to accept had saved him, so, wouldn't it be only right to do the same? Help the one that saved him?

"But, what can I do?" Koji asked Zoe, eyes locked on the bird.

Velgemon let out a screech and shot another beam of energy at the group, causing the tank to flip over and de-evolve into JP. The bird made to grab JP but Patamon rose and blasted small air shots at him, causing Velgemon to bat the small Digimon away with a wing. The three humans scrambled to their feet and Zoe was quick to Spirit Evolve into Kazemon and fly up to Velgemon's field of vision.

"Koichi, it's us, don't you remember?" she tried pleading. "Don't you remember trying to save Koji?"

"Why do you defend him?" the bird asked harshly.

Aldamon flew up and joined the Warrior of Wind with Kumamon in his hands. "Koichi, why are you trying to kill us? We're trying to help!" the Warrior of Flame said.

"Please, Koichi, we're friends!" Kumamon pleaded. "We don't want to fight you."

"You're the ENEMY!" Velgemon pumped his wings with enough force to push the two flying Digimon away before going in to attack them.

Aldamon dropped Kumamon to the ground before grabbing Kazemon and flying out of the way of the Digimon's path. He allowed the female Warrior of fly out of his arms before he turned just in time to catch Velgemon's beak as he came flying at them.

"Koichi, why are you attacking Koji? Weren't you trying to save him?"

"He caused my mother strife! He killed Strabimon! He's the enemy! He's the monster!" The bird threw his head, knocking the Warrior of Fire to the ground.

Koji heard the assertion, crestfallen. The monster… No, of all things, he wasn't a monster. He made stupid choices, believing Cherubimon, trying to kill Koichi, and now running from the one who saved him. This was where he was going to stop making stupid decisions and to make up for the mistakes he made and take whatever retribution came his way.

Koichi's friends were fighting, why shouldn't he? Koji pulled out his D-tector and Spirit Evolved into KendoGarurumon, surprising the entire group, but he ignored them and sped into battle. Velgemon noted the new arrival and flew to meet him, knowing that his main victim was under the lupine armor. "Lupine Laser!" The wolf shot out a beam of light at the Digimon's third eye, causing it to crash into the land and scream in pain. KendoGarurumon joined Aldamon, who just looked at him, gaping.

"Quit that," the Warrior of Light growled, eyes on the bird that recovered from the blow. The battle was only beginning and he knew it would be a rather long one.

X::::::::::X

The shot to the third eye had done more than cause Velgemon pain. The searing sting caused a moment of clarity to the one wrapped in the emotional void provided by the Beast of Darkness. That moment of clarity then lead to an awakening.

Where was this location? What was this feeling?

No control. That lack of control was startling. Fear: the first human emotion that pierced the mind.

The first sounds the gray mass heard: footsteps, slow and echoing in nothingness. The eyes turned and took in a new figure, black against the black, almost blending in if not for the seven glowing red irises. Curiosity, the second feeling, set into the boy's consciousness. "Who are you?"

"You." The figure extended a red sword.

"How can you be me," the gray mass looked at a pair of fuzzy blobs, "if I don't even know what I am?"

Another searing pain filled the void and a light fell onto the mass, causing it to scream in agony.

Fly away…that horrid light!

However, as contradicting as pain is, it too, came with a second moment of clarity and memories flooded in so fast that the mass panicked, its third human emotion. The mass reeled back out of the light and into the void, blinking.

It looked down at the blurry appendages that focused into the form of hands as if someone had put a pair of prescribed glasses on a person with a stigmatism. A name—an identity—running through its head in the churning chaos: Koichi Kimura, a human boy. A sense of self filled the gray mass; it was a he, the blob was human.

"The light hurts doesn't it, Koichi Kimura?" The figure held out a jagged, blood-red sword that shined in the glow of the twilight. "The light hurts you and I, so why does something so beautiful exist? Why should it be left to live?"

Koichi stayed quiet, eyes fixed on the light. It had hurt and it held a beauty all its own but the rays seemed so warm and comforting, almost inviting. The human reached out again, not having learned his lesson the first time, and the light burned him like fire. Emotions and memories rolled through his mind: frustration, fear, longing to be recognized, loneliness…

He pulled away, clutching his hand and holding back tears. Was he truly fearful? Was he truly weak? Was he truly all alone?

No…before he had pulled away, the human had seen five other children sitting around a campfire: a blonde girl, three brunets boys that varied in age, and three strange creatures. A new feeling burned in his heart: desire for more knowledge.

"Don't you see, you're alone?"

"Then, who were they?"

"Friends." The figure with the red sword remained still and all seven eyes closed.

"My…friends?"

"But they don't fight with you. Look."

And look, the human did. The nothingness around them sparked up like a dome-shaped screen, showing those that the human labeled as friends in different forms. They spoke but no words came out but, instead, elemental attacks flew at him. A stranger among the group, a wolf, fired a blinding light beam and the human screamed, covering his eyes from the harsh glare of the light.

Disbelief rose in the void. If they were his friends, why were they attacking? Why were they fighting with the light?

"They turned on you, Koichi Kimura. Give back in to the darkness." A hand rested on the human's shoulder. "Become Duskmon, become the darkness I am. Turn away from all the agony the light shall give you."

The offer was just too tempting. Emotions were absolute chaos in his mind. What could he believe? Wouldn't it be so much easier to hide from the light that caused all this? Just destroy it for good?

Yes…yes, it would be.

X::::::::::X

Velgemon had remained alive, even after all that had been thrown at the hellbird. Screeching, it continued its onslaught at the humans with vigor. The monster had moments where it hesitated for no reason but the pauses were short-lived. During the long and tiring battle, many of the Warriors had been de-evolved from their struggle. The youngest had fallen first before he was joined by the female Warrior and, against his will, the Warrior of Thunder went to get his exhausted comrades out of the fray, leaving the Warrior of Flame and the enemy-turned-ally left to combat the beast. Velgemon, himself, soon seemed to tire from fighting and began etching a circle in the earth. The Warriors abandoned trying to make the bird de-evolve and worked on trying to escape the closing dome. The two were fast enough to escape but the rocks that went flying from the explosion still hit them and the fleeing Warriors, forcing those that were still in their Spirit armor to de-evolve. The Warriors had been fortunate enough to not get buried in the debris but it might've been better if they had, as the five humans and three Digimon were left exposed and ready for the picking, injuries and exhaustion left them from quick motions, such as running.

The winged death came flying down, talons aimed at his first victim: Koji Minamoto, the light that had caused him so much pain. Koji prepared for death, squeezing his eyes shut but when the feeling of being ripped apart didn't come, he dared to open an eye.

He gasped. Velgemon's talons an inch away, fighting to grab hold of him but a single beam of light directed at the third eye bared the bird from getting any farther. A barely audible voice called out from the light but Koji remained unaware of what it was saying.

X::::::::::X

"Koichi Kimura, remember who you are," a female voice begged. The boy recognized it and his eyes grew wide.

A second ray of light fell onto him and he flinched, thinking that he'd feel the pain of the light he had dared touch before. However, it wasn't burning or harsh, rather warm but still uncomfortable to his senses. New thoughts, feelings, and memories that had been suppressed resurfaced. Faces regained names and names gained faces. Promises remembered, bonds rediscovered.

"_Koichi__…__you __have __a __brother,__" _said the familiar voice of his late grandmother.

"_You __know, __if __you __ever __need __to __talk __to __someone, __just __ask,__" _smiled Takuya.

I promised myself…to make Mom happy…

So many people that he had forgotten about, so many friendly faces.

"_Koichi, it's us, don't you remember? Don't you remember trying to save Koji?"_

"_Koichi, why are you trying to kill us? We're trying to help!"_

"_Please, Koichi, we're friends!"_

Friends…

That's right, he had friends…

A firm grip roused the boy's attention, making him remember that he wasn't the only one in the room. "Don't believe that wretch! They're trying to kill you!" Koichi shook the grip off and spun to meet the figure.

"No, they're not! Leave me, whoever you are!"

The figure remained still, refusing to budge and instead, the seven eyes just continued to glare. Several seconds passed then, the figure leaped and stepped into the light. Koichi held his arms before him, bracing to be crushed and pinned to the ground but the light he stood under flared and it consumed the void and destroyed the black figure.

X::::::::::X

The moments after the bird had been stopped by the beam of light seemed like a long time and the humans had taken the chance to crawl away, slowly but surely. They were only a few yards away when the beam gave out and disappeared and the bird gave a caw—practically different to that they had heard before. Fear rippled through the humans when they saw Velgemon free of its restraints and readied to fight but the bird didn't move. Instead, Velgemon folded his wings and peacefully closed its eyes before the data holding his form unraveled, revealing the boy that had been trapped in the data.

"K-Koichi?" Tommy was the first to call out to him, unsure if things were all right. The little boy used a nearby boulder to get up but Takuya was faster to rise to his feet.

Painstakingly, the Warrior of Fire carefully picked his way over to the dark haired human until he was only a yard away. "Koichi, are you all right?" he asked cautiously.

Koichi, in response, looked at him with a solemn face and nodded his head slowly. "I'm sorry."

A smile crept onto Takuya's face and he approached the boy carefully and placed a hand on Koichi's shoulder, causing the dark eyes to stare at the brunet in surprise.

"Crap happens," Takuya answered. "I did the same things you did when I got BurningGreymon."

That easily earned a wary smile from the dark haired boy. "Is everyone all right?"

"We're alive and kicking," the Warrior of Flame answered and he noted the questioning look on his friend's face and added, indicating towards Koji in the mass behind him, "and when I say all of us, I mean _all_of us."

The smile expanded a little more. "Thank goodness," Koichi sighed, before a sudden wave of exhaustion overcame him and he began to sway. Takuya caught him just in time before the youth hit the ground and the others, who had been inching forwards since Takuya had relaxed his guard, raced to complete the gape between them and the two boys to see what had caused Koichi to faint so suddenly.

X::::::::::X

As there was nowhere to take cover, the sore children began heading in a random direction in hopes of coming across _something_that could act as a refuge. Luck eventually came to them when they came upon a large spanning area that could only be referred to as a "Trailmon graveyard" as there were hunks of rusting parts and hunks of metal that were devoid of life. It might have been disrespectful to use the remains of a Trailmon as shelter but the humans thought their need was great enough to override that for now.

"Strange," said JP, cozying himself down and looking out the opening. "I thought that all Digimon, including Trailmon were made of data. I never thought they'd leave behind skeletons."

"Don't say it like that, please!" Zoe cried, shivering. "It's bad enough that we have to rest here and _on_ the remains."

"How would you like to be put then?" Takuya asked, sitting down after he placed Koichi on the floor.

"I don't know," she answered, crossing her arms. "Maybe just stick away from autonomy words like that?"

"Will do then," the Warrior of Thunder said.

Bokomon thought for a second. "I'm not sure why they leave remains and parts behind like that," he admitted. "No one has seen Trailmon evolve nor has anyone seen their Fractal Codes. No one has kept track of how a Trailmon lived. Not even the book covered it."

Takuya shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter right now," the Warrior of Fire stretched. "We've got a lot of walking to get to the Rose Morning Star." He then paused, turning his brown eyes towards Koji, who had positioned himself the furthest from the group. "And you should probably tell us what we'll be facing once we're a bit more rested, okay, Koji," Takuya stated and the said boy simply nodded, eyes fixated on the wall across from him. With that, the humans, exhausted from the long walk and the series of battles they all had gone through, allowed themselves to fade into unconsciousness under the watchful eye of the Digimon.

**Chapter 27: End.**

**This chapter…it took a while but it's here! Sorry about that. Hopefully, I didn't really weaken Velgemon too much for you guys. And yes, I really have no clue how Trailmon data and things work in the Frontier's Digital World. They're Digimon but haven't been shown to evolve. They have attacks but there are no hints to show that they have Fractal Codes, for example, we have the Trailmon graveyard shown in episode 32. But that's besides the point. ^^' Anyway, we have only a few more chapters left! They're all complete and so, I'll update the next chapter tomorrow!**


	29. Chapter 28: Koichi's Choice

**A/N: Hey, hey! I come baring another chapter! Thanks to Martiny, Something dictionary related, Asarikou-chan, and madjack89 for reviewing. =) Only two more chapters! They'll be updated tomorrow and I'll also have news for you guys as well. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier. If I did…well, we all know what would happen if I owned it.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 28: Koichi's Choice

He had no idea how long he had been in the darkness. The darkness felt as if it compressed down on him, bringing a sense of claustrophobia to the boy. Breathing came hard and only one thought came to him: _Where__am__I?_

He heard footsteps. Panic arose, so the boy ran. How far he ran, he wasn't sure but he knew that he was being followed. _Bam, __bam, __bam_, echoed the footsteps as the predator chased its prey. The prey found himself afraid. No matter how far he ran, the predator caught up.

The boy eventually found himself cornered and was forced to turn upon his pursuer. Two gleaming red swords were pointed at him, poised and ready to run him through. The boy gulped and stared at the bloodthirsty red eyes, shivering.

"You got away once, rabbit, but I won't let you get away again."

"No." The boy shrank back against the wall.

The swords plunged forwards but something parried them. He heard a roar and the darkness faded to a lighter gray, almost like shadows. The atmosphere also lightened up until it became comfortable and eased the fear in the boy.

The boy turned his eyes towards hit protector, a large gray and gold figure. "Who are you?"

Dark brown eyes met the blue ones. "Don't be afraid of what you are. Where there is darkness, a guiding light is there."

And that was where Koichi woke up, and just a split second before he rolled off something soft and then onto the ground. Dazed, the dark haired boy pushed himself up and quickly surveyed the area he was in, blinking a few times as he noted the worried gazes of his friends and a rather new Digimon. Quickly, he deduced that they were in a Trailmon and he had fallen off one seats

"You okay?" asked JP's worried voice.

"Yeah," he affirmed, nodding as the boy repositioned himself on the seat he had fallen off of. Koichi noted their cautious looks and became nervous himself. "Um…are you all right?"

Zoe was the first to smile. "Yeah, just a little banged and bruised," she answered, twirling her upper arm in the air for emphasis.

"We're glad to see you're all right, Koichi!" Bokomon said from next to Takuya.

Koichi noted the small Digimon and peered at it curiously. "Who's that?"

"That's Patamon," Tommy said as the small Digimon plopped onto the boy's oversized hat. "He came from Seraphimon's egg and it hatched just before…" The Warrior of Ice quickly fell silent before changing the subject. "Um…is it true that…Strabimon is…gone?"

Koichi closed his eyes and nodded solemnly and he heard the gasps from the others. His mind flew back to that instance when Strabimon had sacrificed himself and it brought an ache to the young Warrior. Shaking the thoughts from his head, the dark haired boy looked at Patamon. The said Digimon stared back at Koichi, rather unsure about the dark haired boy. "He's afraid of me," Koichi noted with a small frown.

Koichi then felt a pair of eyes set on him and turned towards where the stare was coming from and met an identical pair, making his own widen. Koji noted Koichi was looking right back at him and turned his head away rather shamefacedly. The other dark haired boy adverted his own eyes to the ground, feeling rather guilty himself for wanting to kill his own brother, the one he was searching for… Now that Koji was in reach, what would he do? Koichi had thought of several things to say to him if they had met but the circumstances that the Digital World set them up with would seem awkward than the lines Koichi had mentally prepared himself with. The dark haired boy sighed.

"Yeah, Koji joined us in bringing you back," Takuya said in a low voice, sending a glance over at the boy in the bandana.

"I guess I have a bit to catch up on," Koichi laughed with an almost sad tone.

And that was what they did. Being sure to skip over the Velgemon incident, the group explained how they had traveled a short distance in hopes of finding cover and how they had found a scrap yard of run down Trailmon and how they "helped" the one they were now riding (or rather threatened the Trailmon into repaying them after it had tricked them) and that now, they were on their way to the Rose Morning Star with information that their destination also was Cherubimon's castle and that, before the humans had arrived in the Digital World, that the very Trailmon they were on had taken the captive Ophanimon to their very destination.

"You know, Koichi, I have to admit that Koji is a lot better now than when he was on Cherubimon's side," JP said rather loudly, earning an elbow to the gut from the female on the team.

She coughed before reiterating what he had said. "What he means is that Koji had come a long way and is rather likeable." The conversation then lapsed into silence as the boy had nothing to say to affirm or deny the given statement and so, the Trailmon chugged away as Koichi just deeper into his thoughts.

Zoe looked between the two brothers, frowning. After all this time, Koichi had finally found his brother and got him back in the right senses but neither seemed like they'd be talking any time soon. Back in Japan, she had normally stayed out of pushing people into other situations but this time, it was rather different as she had changed and Koichi was the blonde's friend. Zoe had to say something but she wasn't quite sure what and so, she turned to Takuya. "You know, Koji looks rather sad. How about you talk with him?" the Warrior of Wind suggested.

Takuya must've been thinking of doing something too and he looked back at her. "I think it would be _way_ easier to talk with Koichi about this entire thing," he admitted. "Besides, why do you want me to talk with Koji and not yourself?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember me slapping him, do you?" she asked, none too amused.

"Right," Takuya answered, dropping the subject before he would somehow lose the argument.

X::::::::::X

As soon as the Trailmon came to a stop, Takuya did just that. Having stopped for a short break, the Trailmon had been kind enough to come to a small station that had a small accommodation for those who were stuck for a while. Takuya watched Koji go in, most likely to put himself at a distance from the others while he thought. Zoe nudged the Warrior of Fire, signaling that this was his chance.

Takuya narrowed his eyes for a minute. "Then who's going to talk with Koichi?"

"I will," she answered, waving Takuya off. "I'm also taking Patamon with me, so it might ease the tension."

"Good luck with that. Patamon seems to be wary of him."

"Yeah but it'll all the same start up a conversation." With that, the Warrior of Wind went to gather the small Digimon.

Takuya, left alone, looked towards the small building and saw Koji sitting down, staring at the ground through the round window. He willed himself to move forwards. True, he didn't trust the boy with his life yet—that would be rather insane, as Koji had tried to kill him once and most likely tried to kill Koichi _twice_—but he had forged a small bond with the boy through the work they did on the Trailmon, so that had to count for something. Reflecting on it, the only way he could have made a bond with JP at all was through working with him. Maybe things would be somewhat similar? Well, trial and error!

With that, he opened the door slowly and peeked his head in. Koji had heard the squeaking of the door and looked up to see the rather awkward Warrior of Flame enter the room. Unsure how to begin, the two stood—or in Koji's case, sat—for several minutes in silence.

"Uh, hi," he began. "Hope I'm not being to nosey…" Koji looked at him sideways, as if the brunet was crazy. _Well, __that__'__s __absolutely __a _great _way __to __start __off __a__c onversation_, Takuya thought sarcastically. "Look, if you need to talk to someone, I'm your guy," the Warrior of Flame continued. "It's a rather open policy as we're comrades and stuff." After saying that, he felt more like an idiot and so, to further wound his pride, Takuya decided to go out on a limb and further break the awkwardness. "And…I'm sorry for being rather harsh on you when we were fighting against Koichi." He really wasn't good at this.

"What do brothers even do?" Koji spoke up suddenly, rather surprising Takuya.

Well, at least this was right up his alley. "What do brothers do? Do you not have a brother or something?" Realizing what he had said, Takuya quickly added, "Besides Koichi, I mean."

The dark haired boy nodded. "I was raised as an only child and now…I learn I have a brother…who knows what other lies—," Koji was quick to cut himself off, realizing he was starting to spill his emotional past out and quickly became agitated, glowering at the brunet.

"Not digging or judging here," Takuya said, raising his hands. "Well, brothers do a lot of things, I guess…play together, fight with each other, do stupid things together…man, this is making me miss Shinya a lot." The boy chuckled to himself, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, that sounds great," muttered the dark haired boy.

Takuya frowned, rather annoyed. "Well, having brothers isn't a walk in the daisies. Just like any relationship, it takes work—oh God, I'm starting to sound like my mother…but, what I'm saying is that it takes time to become friends with people. It isn't instant ramen."

"Then what makes you think he _wants_ to be my brother—"

Takuya almost wanted to slap his face. "—after all you did? Yeah, let me tell you, you aren't the only one who's made mistakes. I've done crap I'm not proud of and Koichi also feels like an idiot after all that has happened. Let me tell you, out of all of us, Koichi is the only one that hasn't lost fate in you, despite not knowing you."

This struck a cord with Koji and he looked up, almost guilty. The former evil Warrior wasn't sure how to process this information. How could someone hold onto a faint hope like that?

Takuya examined the look on the boy's face as silence fell. At first, he remained unsure how Koji would be so surprised and so distant in trying to talk with Koichi and then he remembered what Koji had said. The realization dawned on the Warrior of Flame; of course he would be distant and wouldn't know what to do and if Takuya was in his place, the Warrior of Flame, too, wouldn't be sure what to do either when all the truths he was raised with were false.

"Well, maybe this can be a starting point?" he said. "You do want to know more about him, right?"

Koji contemplated this for a minute. "Maybe," he answered. Takuya couldn't help but let a half-smirk come to his face. Koji seemed to be the type that worked in yes or no and the way he said "maybe" sounded a lot like a yes. "First contact is needed to make a bond, remember, Koji," the Warrior of Flame said before dismissing himself.

X::::::::::X

After all the humans were rested and the Trailmon boarded, it took off. Zoe sat next to Takuya and, keeping her eyes glued out the window. "So," she said to Takuya. "How'd it go?"

"I made progress," he answered, a half smirk on his face as he stared out the window as well. "I think Koji's one to search for answers and apparently, he has quite a few questions."

The blonde looked at the boy in goggles and blinked for a second, surprised. "Well, that's surprising," she admitted. "Maybe you're able to do more than fight and make stupid plans."

Takuya chuckled. "Hey, need I remind you that I've accomplished more than that?" he shot back, half-jokingly.

"Right," the Warrior of Wind answered, turning her green eyes back to the window. The Warrior of Flame made an annoyed noise and looked back out the window as well.

"What are they talking about, JP?" Tommy asked, looking up at the boy in blue that stared jealously at the two as if they were a little _too_ quaint. The young brunet noted the look on the elder boy's face and then concernedly asked, "Um, are you okay, JP?"

"Yeah," the Warrior of Thunder frowned before answering the little boy's first question, "They were trying to put the brothers together to talk. If you ask me, they could've worked it out on their own."

"But we're Koichi's friend," The Warrior of Ice pointed out.

"Yes, and as friends, we shouldn't always be butting into what they're doing," JP answered. "Let's just hope it doesn't blow up in their faces."

Tommy smiled. "I'm sure it won't!" His childish optimism had yet been outgrown despite all they had been through and this made the older brunet smile thoughtfully. Maybe few things change.

Meanwhile, Koichi and Koji had found themselves in a rather awkward silence for several minutes as neither had the nerve to say anything. Finally, annoyed by the silence, the two spoke at the same moment. Koichi waved for his twin to go first and Koji nodded, looking down at his hands.

"This is…rather hard for me to process…learning I have a brother and all…" he began.

"You grew up as an only child," Koichi stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah…wait, how did you know?" Koji asked, rather surprised that Koichi knew this information.

Realizing what he had said, the one with the shorter hair turned a bright red. How weird would it be to tell his brother stalked him? "J-just a good guess," he said quickly. Having that out on the table, Koichi ran with it. "You said that you're having a hard time taking in that you have a brother, so I kind of assumed…"

"Well, be careful of that. It can make an ass out of you and me," the new Warrior of Light responded and the other twin cracked a smile.

"It's rather understandable," Koichi continued, looking out the window. "I didn't learn I had a brother either until Grandma told me just before…well, a while ago. I had a rather hard time processing it as well until I dug deeper."

"Well, it makes sense now," Koji mused, looking up. "I now know why my name means 'second light.' You must be 'first light.'" The boy in the bandana looked uncertain for a minute. "Do you…think you can tell me about our biological mother, Koichi?"

Koichi nodded. "She's a hard worker," he began, looking down in guilt. "Mom takes care of me and works two jobs, one is a part time and we just make about what we need and she still manages to put money away for me when I start off on my own, often neglecting her own health…"

The new Warrior of Light's face became sympathetic. "Poor mother…"

"Yeah," the former Warrior of Light agreed. "Me being gone is most likely doing worse to her…"

And the conversation fell into silence again but just as the two brothers were about to start up another, the Trailmon hit the brakes hard, sending the humans falling forwards as their bodies tried resisting the change in movement. Wondering why they had came to a stop all of a sudden, the humans stuck their heads out the window and were met with a rather _large_ black rabbit staring down at them, looking rather displeased and ready to kill someone.

"Cherubimon!" Koji breathed, turning as white as paper and his eyes becoming smaller.

Now knowing the name of their foe, four of the six humans were quick to Spirit Evolve into three Beast Spirits and a Fusion Evolution and all stood ready for action. Cherubimon noted them for a second but his attention was turned to the twin brothers that hung back, his former lackey holding back shivers of fears for what may come. Koji knew that his former master was there for him.

"Koji, it seems that I may not have known everything," the fallen angel's voice boomed. "If you had told me of what you had learned, you would not be in this powerless state."

Koji remained silent but Koichi stepped forwards. "My brother is not powerless! He's able to use his Spirits far better than I could!" he shouted with a boldness fueled by anger that his comrades had never seen or his twin thought possible.

"And you cannot?" Cherubimon asked, bemused. This quieted Koichi right away as the large rabbit continued, "You know that you can use your Spirits, Koichi, but I sense fear in controlling that power…Fear of the darkness that consumed your brother and nearly you." The fallen angel narrowed his eyes at the boys that couldn't talk back.

Having forgotten about the other four humans who were annoyed by being ignored, the four Warriors simultaneously shot him with their best elemental attacks. Cherubimon, unfazed by the attacks, turned his attention to the horrified Hybrids. "Impatient, are we?" he inquired.

Aldamon was the first to get over his shock and formed a small sun in his hands and stated, "We aren't going to let you take _either_ of them Cherubimon. You're our opponent and this is where you're going down! Solar Wind Destroyer!" It was rather desperate attempt from Aldamon but it did get his point across as the miniature sun hit their enemy in the face.

"You do not have the power to fight me. I shall show you humans real power." Cherubimon raised his hands into the air and the clouds above began forming darker than those above that blocked out the light of the sun. As it expanded, blue lightning began striking randomly from the newly formed clouds. Alarmed, Zephyrmon was quick to descend to the ground as to not become an easy target to the electricity. All had little reaction time to dodge and so, they were struck quickly and, from the damage, they were forced to de-evolve. Aldamon was quick to shield the two brothers from the lightning and fell, just like his comrades.

Koji stared, disbelieving at the effects that his former master was able to do. If he had such power, why couldn't he simply snatch the two? Koichi, on the other hand, checked to be sure that Takuya was alive. Bokomon, Neemon, and Patamon, who had somehow managed to not get hit by the lightning, made sure to check on the others humans as well.

Fortunately, they were all alive but injured. Another attack and they could be…

"Koichi, you fear the lose of your comrades, correct? Koji, you wish to know about your mother?" Cherubimon asked, his tone almost sickly-sweet. "Come with me, and I shall give you what you want."

Koichi remained stubborn, and to prove the great angel's point, Cherubimon called for a spear of black lightning into his hands and poised to drop it where the majority of the fallen Warriors lay.

Koji stood still, looking out at the fallen humans; they had kept fighting. He looked over at his conflicted brother and saw that he wanted to continue to fight but was held back by fear. Cherubimon had nothing more for Koji and acting on his decision, Koji Beast Spirit Evolved into KendoGarurumon and sped to stand in between his former master and his new companions. This mildly surprised the fallen angel.

"Cherubimon, I refuse to go back!" he growled. "You have no answers for me! If I listen to you again, I will lose all I've gained in the last hours I've spent with these humans. You lied and I won't be fooled again!"

Cherubimon lowered the spear, partially disappointed, but repositioned the spear of lightning. "If that is your wish, then you shall die with them." Those words struck no fear in KendoGarurumon.

Just before Cherubimon unleashed the spear, Koichi ran forwards, screaming, "No!" He approached Cherubimon and stopped several yards away from him, staring up at him pleadingly. "Leave them and take me!"

The spear vanished and the fallen angel looked down at the desperate boy. He allowed a grin to stretch upon his face as he heard the boy's friends shout for him to think sensibly think. "You are willing to give in?"

Koichi nodded, pained by the decision he was making. "What do I have to do?"

"Release the those dark emotions in your heart. Just accept the darkness of who you are."

The dark haired boy closed his eyes and pulled out his black D-tector, Spirit Evolving into the Human Spirit. As the data began building the Human Warrior's armor, Koichi struggled to hold back the screams of pain. Behind closed eyes, a gray mass formed in front of him and repeated words that he remembered from the dream he had: "Don't be afraid of what you are. Where there is darkness, a guiding light is there." He was darkness. What was good about darkness? Darkness hid the evils of the world and brought fear to a sleeping child. He stopped there, suddenly remembering the times when he had seen his mother. During the day, Koichi was always lonely but it was always eased at night, when it brought him his mother. Back in the pit of darkness he was in, the darkness had scared him but the light too had hurt. The shadows, a form of darkness, had only felt right. Koichi remembered when they had first arrived in the Terminal of Darkness and the harmless native Digimon. No natives had tried to hurt them; it was all Cherubimon's goons.

_Maybe __darkness __isn__'__t __so __bad,_ the boy said to himself, thoughtfully. _Maybe __it __isn__'__t __all __evil__…_

At that moment, the pain stopped and the evolution ceased, leaving the dark haired boy standing strong, the demon Human Spirit and the avian Beast Spirit floating before him. "Cherubimon, you are right. I need to accept what I am: I am darkness. Darkness, however, that you seek is the darkness I won't become! I'll use my darkness to shield them from the likes of you!"

Again, he Spirit Evolved and become a large seven-eyed demon-knight like that from his dreams. "Koji, let's finish this!"

KendoGarurumon howled in agreement and Slide Evolved into the white futuristic knight. The two opposing elemental Digimon combined long-range attacks, which held a harming impact on the great rabbit Digimon. The humans all rose and came back together and watched as the twin Warriors fought Cherubimon and Bokomon watched in awe.

"Bokomon, what are those Digimon?" inquired Tommy.

Bokomon was brought back to the earth and was quick to fish for his book and flip through it for information. "The black one is the Warrior of Darkness Duskmon and the white one is the Warrior of Light Lobomon."

JP whistled as he watched the two dodge lightning strikes that rained from the sky. "Duskmon's quick," he commented, noting that Duskmon had dodged while Lobomon had to Slide Evolve into KendoGarurumon to keep up.

"Fast or not, we can help," Zoe said, rising slowly and Beast Spirit Evolving into Zephyrmon. Takuya, JP, and Tommy were quick to follow suit, each becoming Aldamon, Beetlemon, and Korikakumon respectively.

Just as Cherubimon was about to call forth more lightning spears, he was hit by a blast of fireballs fed by the raging winds and electrically charged axes. This provided enough of a distraction for Duskmon to Slide Evolve into Velgemon. The hellbird and the mechanical wolf fired their laser attacks, which weakened the giant Digimon enough for Velgemon to dive right into its stomach and pass through it, finishing the Digimon off.

Surprisingly, the body began to dissolve without producing a Fractal Code to be scanned. De-evolving, JP noted how odd it was before they joined the brothers.

"Great job, you guys!" Takuya said, putting up a hand to receive a high five.

"Cherubimon's alive," the Warrior of Darkness proclaimed solemnly, breaking the semi-joyful atmosphere. "I can feel it." Hearing that, Takuya put his hand down.

"That explains why there wasn't a Fractal Code," JP noted.

Koji looked over at the other humans. "That was just a projection. It's best for you all to leave as none of you could face Cherubimon. You'll only get hurt or worse."

Takuya shook his head. "I'm not leaving. I nearly did that once but I was an idiot to do it."

Tommy went to stand by the Warrior of Flame. "We're stronger if we fight together!" he called in a defiant tone.

"Someone needs to keep you guys in line," JP said.

"In all honesty, I can't let you boys have all the fun," Zoe smiled.

"But this—!"

"—isn't a game?" Koichi interrupted, looking over at his brother. "We all know that but we have gotten this far by fighting together. It might be smart of us to run away but we have more things to fight for than you think."

"But—!"

Again, Koji was interrupted. "Koji, you think you and Koichi alone can stand against Cherubimon?" the Warrior of Wind asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Cherubimon might be far stronger than that projection and what makes you think that just you and Koichi can face him on your own?"

Koji didn't answer, though he remained unmoving in his opinion.

"We're all in this together," Takuya said. "We're the Legendary Warriors and its our duty to protect the Digital World, so buddy, we aren't going anywhere."

The Warrior of Light attempted to make an argument but quickly saw the futility of it all and gave in. _They__'__re __like __a __bunch __of __mountains,_ he thought. _At __least __I__'__m __not __in __this __endeavor __alone._ "All right," Koji said.

Without any more arguments, the children and their companion Digimon boarded the frightened Trailmon and continued towards the Rose Morning Star and their final battle.

**Chapter 28: End.**

**And so, we've come to the end of another chapter.**

**Well, the reason why I didn't have the Spirits change was namely because Koichi's mindset didn't. The Spirits reflect things of who the characters are, what they wish to be, or their mindset and the Spirits of Darkness aren't corrupted. Once Koichi changes his mindset, his Spirits will change with him. I also did this because I wanted to write Duskmon in action for a change. XD' **


	30. Chapter 29: Anthem of the Angels

**A/N: The final stretch! Yahoo and boo! Well, anyway, thanks to and for reviewing. =)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own and will never own Digimon.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 29: Anthem of the Angels

The Trailmon ride had been tense but far from quiet as battle plans were made. Koji told them of any entrances to Cherubimon's castle under the Rose Morning Star that he knew of. In the end, the Warrior of Light only knew of one, a door that stood oddly in the middle of an open space guarded by two Digimon called Phantomon. Bokomon went to describe the Digimon as fast and devilish creatures that would capture their victims in a glass sphere around their necks.

At the end of the tracks, the Trailmon hurriedly dropped the humans and three Digimon off before pulling quickly away without another word, though the humans ignored the Trailmon's retreat; they had more important things to worry about. For an hour, the Warriors and their companions walked towards the towering castle just under the rose shaped mist, the clouds above them were beginning to disperse to let the light of the moons cast an eerie glow onto the land, signifying night had fallen on the Continent of Darkness.

About an hour later, they arrived at a mile away from their destination on a large hill that was fairly steep. The land around the base of the castle and up to the foot of the hill was broken up, most likely having the Fractal Code of the land circling the castle taken. Rocks hovered upward, as if defying the laws of gravity, but the children weren't surprised, as they had seen many things that defied the laws of physics. With the shake of the ground, streams of data from the land close to them began to fly up to the highest tower.

"That must be where Cherubimon is," JP noted, solemnly.

"I wonder what the data's being used for…" Zoe wondered aloud.

"Maybe Koji knows?" suggested Tommy, looking over questionly at the said boy.

Koji kept his eyes fixed on the top-most floor. "I don't know," he answered. "All I know is that he wants it for something…"

The Warrior of Flame looked over at the Warrior of Light and the Warrior of Darkness and noticed both of their strikingly serious features and it made the boy in goggles shiver slightly at how creepy it was. In only a few days, things had really changed and so much had happened…it was almost hard to imagine that the six of them were standing where they were, serious like adults when only a few months ago, they were all wide-eyed and naïve children.

His thoughts were interrupted when his D-tector began to ring. He pulled it out and noticed that there was a familiar symbol on the screen: Ophanimon's symbol, the one that had set the events into motion.

"Children," her voice called to them from the device, her voice full of relief and concern. "You are all finally here, safe and sound."

"Of course we are!" Tommy piped up.

"I knew I could have faith in you, all of you. I am truly sorry for what I have sent you through, all this danger—," Ophanimon began but Zoe was quick to cut in.

"Lady Ophanimon, we should actually be grateful to you. There are things we wouldn't have learned about ourselves if we hadn't been brought here," the blonde said, a smile on her face.

"Yeah," agreed JP. "I've done things I never thought I would."

"Great journeys do that to all beings but, you are all still children and I have one last favor from you: please save Cherubimon!" The request nearly startled the group.

"Why should we, after all he has done to the Digital World?" Koichi demanded.

"Yeah, I have to agree with Koichi on this one," Takuya said, rather confused by the Digimon's earnestness and sincerity of the request.

"It is like Koichi's wish to save his brother: Cherubimon is my friend that has simply fallen victim to himself and his anger—"

"—just like me," Koji finished, a frown etched on his face. He took the D-tector out of Takuya's hands. "Ophanimon, we can't guarantee anything but there is a high chance that Cherubimon can't be saved…sometimes sins can't be redeemed…"

"…I know…" Ophanimon answered sorrowfully before she fell into silence for a few minutes.

"Lady Ophanimon?" asked the Warrior of Fire.

"I shall disconnect from you now for my energy grows weak. I implore that you be careful and may you win, for the sake of the Digital World. Good luck." With that, the symbol disappeared from the D-tector and leaving the humans alone.

They began heading forwards, leaving their companion Digimon behind in the safety that distance provided. Using the stones, they made their way up to the entrance that Koji had told them about, all ready for a fight. Upon arriving, they were met by an empty ledge with a giant set of wood doors sitting upright, unsupported by a rock wall.

"Careful," Lobomon cautioned.

"Oh, fresh meat," a voice out of said, coming from nowhere in particular.

"Indeed," a second one agreed. "We're going to eat your Fractal Codes!"

More taunts were echoed from the thin air and the Warriors were left to turn wildly around, looking for where the voices were coming from. It was no use as they weren't in sight.

Duskmon gave off a grumbling noise before turning his eyes quickly, finding one with no trouble. Nimbly, the demon-knight pounced like a cat, extending his crimson blades and slicing the air. The sword easily sliced through one of the Phantomon, revealing its data that the Warrior of Darkness scanned.

Out of the corners of his eyes, Duskmon caught movement but his fellow Warriors had caught it and Kumamon unleashed a freezing wind that formed a cocoon around the Digimon and a well placed laser shot from Lobomon shattered the ice and causing the Fractal Code of the second Phantomon to appear and was quickly scanned by the little bear Digimon.

With the guards gone, the Warriors continued, entering the strange doors and arriving in an even stranger room, if it could even be called that. It was more like distorted space. Windows floated randomly throughout the area; dark figures reached out for the Warriors from the mirrors but the six easily avoided them and tried to ignore their crazed shouts.

"What's with these things?" Kazemon asked, looking over at Lobomon as he stepped back from a hand.

"I honestly don't know," he admitted. "I only ever remember walking through here, guided by Oryxmon."

"Oryxmon?"

Suddenly, a bell rung, long and strong, as if it could scare away the demons of the night and it did exactly that. The creatures in the windows retracted their arms and fled back into what could only be their prisons. With all the black hands away, the Warriors saw a large mountain goat, wearing a gold harness that a gold cowbell hung from and silver headgear.

"You are the humans that Lady Ophanimon has been talking about?" the goat asked, raising his head. "I am to guess that Koji is the one in the armor of the Spirit of Light?"

Lobomon took a step forwards. "Yes, Oryxmon. It's been a while."

"That it has," Oryxmon agreed. "You turned against Master Cherubimon and have come here to stop him. From here, I shall lead you all to Master Cherubimon's chambers so you may commence your duties."

"Why should we trust you in the first place?" Beetlemon questioned.

"Yeah, how do we know if you won't lead us into a trap?" added Agunimon. "You work for Cherubimon, don't you?"

Oryxmon dipped his head. "You are correct, Masters of Fire and Lightning, but I do not agree with Master Cherubimon's methods and I am only a lowly prison keeper. My duties are restricted to such.

"However, from the expression on your faces, you Warriors wish to set Lady Ophanimon free?" the goat continued, scanning over the six Warrior's faces. "She told me that you children would want to set her free and has thus ordered me to deny your request to guide you to her."

"But, what if she can help us save the Digital World?" Kumamon asked. "We fought a thing that looked like Cherubimon and we had trouble with it."

"Lady Ophanimon is too weak to fight," the goat responded.

"If she can't fight, she can at least get away," Kazemon pointed out. "What if we fight Cherubimon and it leads the castle to collapse? How could she get away if we don't release her?"

Oryxmon took the Warrior of Wind's point into consideration and for a few moments pondered it. "All right," he decided, turning around and turning right. "I shall lead you to Lady Ophanimon's prison."

X::::::::::X

As the thick drapes were drawn in the halls, the halls were so dark that it became hard for the Warriors (save Duskmon) to walk through the corridors. By the time they reached Ophanimon's prison, their eyes were adjusted to the darkness and the stark change in lighting made the Warriors squint and shield their eyes. Once the their eyes were adjusted to the light, they found themselves in a room that was lined with crystal that reflected light into a single mass, high above their heads.

"Children!" cried the voice of Ophanimon, rather startled by their coming. "What are you doing here? I had told you to leave me!"

"No can do," Agunimon called back. "We're getting you out first."

Kazemon and Beetlemon flew up to the mass of light and unleashed their respective elemental attacks. Instead of breaking the energy cell, the attacks bounced back to their owners though all it did to them was repulse them back to the ground.

"What's with that thing?" the Warrior of Thunder wondered aloud.

"It is a waste to free me," the great angel told them. "I have tried to break this cell on my own but my attacks only bounced back towards me, albeit they were weakened."

Lobomon looked back towards Oryxmon for help. The goat simply bowed his head and said, "Cherubimon has made this room special with the light so prisoners cannot escape from the inside or outside directly." With the riddle left hanging in the air, the goat turned and left, disappearing into the darkness of the hall.

"Can't escape from inside or outside directly?" Agunimon thought aloud, rather stumped by what he meant. He looked over at his comrades. "You guys have any ideas?"

"Well, attacking the mass of light did nothing," Lobomon said.

"Ophanimon also hasn't been able to get out from the inside either…" Beetlemon continued the trail of thought.

As they continued wondering aloud, Duskmon and Kumamon looked at the crystal walls. "Koichi, what does it mean by attacking directly?" asked the Warrior of Ice.

"We attack indirectly then," Duskmon answered, unsheathing his swords and telling the little bear to follow him. The two raced forwards and the Warrior of Darkness slashed at the crystal walls while the Warrior of Ice turned himself into an icicle and slammed his body into another section of the wall. The other Warriors turned in question to their comrades and watched as beams of light disappeared from where the destroyed crystal was. Seeing what they had done, the others joined them in destroying the crystal-lined walls.

Ophanimon watched the Warriors, rather impressed by what they were doing and their diligence in freeing her. The great angel frowned, however. _I__'__m __not __worth __this,_ she thought. The Digital World was far more important at the moment and she could sense the data around the castle being summoned to Cherubimon. With every passing second, he was growing stronger and the children would then stand less of a chance in defeating him. "Children, please forget this endeavor and face Cherubimon now!" Ophanimon begged. "Cherubimon is growing stronger with each passing moment. Please! Go!"

The cry, however, fell on deaf ears and the children continued, destroying the walls and, along the way, the light of the cell began to fade and grow weaker. The great angel continued her pitiful pleas, until—

"You must go _now_!" she screamed urgently. "Cherubimon's on his way!"

This made them hesitate for a moment but Agunimon frowned defiantly. "No, we're not going to stop until you can get away! Right everyone?"

"RIGHT!"

Just as they were about to continue, the castle wall exploded. Rocks and debris hit the Warriors, sending them into the opposite wall and destroying more of the crystal. The Warriors forced themselves up and turned their eyes to the gaping hole and surprised to see Cherubimon entering through it.

Just like the fake they had faced earlier, he was large and dark. However, the real Cherubimon gave off a creepier air, almost suffocating, as if the heavens were about to call a raging storm to smite them itself. The beady yellow eyes carefully scanned over the Warriors and a large smile stretched across his face. "You humans are so predictable," he said, "just like Ophanimon and Seraphimon. And now, all the Spirits are within my grasp."

Lobomon was the first to stand. "There's no way I'm letting you take my Spirits, Cherubimon!" he cried, pulling out his laser swords. "You've messed with too many lives already!" With a battle cry, the Warrior of Light raced towards the fallen angel but Cherubimon simply batted him away.

Agunimon quickly de-evolved and then Fusion Spirit Evolved into Aldamon. He flew over to Lobomon and helped him up. "You guys take care of freeing Ophanimon. I'll distract Cherubimon."

The Warrior of Light agreed and Aldamon flew off, flying through a gap between the fallen angel and the wall to the outside before firing off several rounds of fireballs to grab his attention. It did just as he intended and Cherubimon flew out to meet him in battle and left the other Warriors back in the tower.

Lobomon got back up to his feet and returned to the others.

"What is Takuya doing?" Kazemon asked, worriedly. "He's being a reckless idiot!"

"He's giving us a chance to free Ophanimon. Once we're done, we'll go and join him," the Warrior of Light answered.

"Right, let's get to it!" Beetlemon shouted, punching the closest crystal.

A few minutes later, they had succeeded in freeing Ophanimon. Beetlemon and Kazemon flew up to ease the turquoise armored angel to the ground. She her robes were tattered and her armor dented, showing the outcomes of the great angel's attempts to escape from her prison. When on the ground, she turned her eyes towards the Warriors, a worried expression on her face. "Go," she said, "I shall be fine. Your worry should be directed towards Takuya."

"Be safe!" Kazemon cried as she and her comrades turned and left the angel, going to join their friend.

X::::::::::X

Takuya had never admitted that he was in a bad situation, not to anyone. When he fought Devimon just before he boarded the Dark Trailmon, the Warrior of Fire only last minute understood the danger he was in. When he fought against Mercurymon, he never thought about it, far too driven by a want to bring the adversary down. But now, he knew it and could say that Takuya Kanbara needed help.

Aldamon was able to dodge a spear of lightning only one at a time but when Cherubimon called them down in torrents, there was no way he could move fast enough to get away. In turn, all he could do was try his best to shield his wings so he wouldn't lose altitude. When the lightning stopped, he unleashed a miniature sun that had far more of an effect on the large rabbit than it had to the clone. This puzzled Takuya for a moment but he just went with it, using the chance to fire a barrage of fireballs but ended up being forced to stop when Cherubimon called upon the heavens again and lightning randomly began to strike with enough force to harm the rock and land below.

Distracted by the thunderbolts, Aldamon never saw Cherubimon come upon him and grab him in one hand. The Warrior of Fire attempted to struggle but it was futile.

Thunder boomed as Cherubimon brought the Warrior to eyelevel. "According to legend, the Warrior of Flame, AncientGreymon, was the last to fall. Ironic that he shall be the first to die now."

"Like hell!" The denying shout came with several strong elemental attacks that hit the back of the Digimon's head. Velgemon dove in and snatched Aldamon as KendoGarurumon, Zephyrmon, Beetlemon, and Korikakumon (from KendoGarurumon's back) attacked with gales, cutting blades, thunderbolts, and tomahawks.

"Guys, be careful!" Aldamon shouted as Velgemon let him go and they joined their comrades.

Cherubimon, rather annoyed by the attacks, glared at the six Warriors with narrowed eyes. "Is this all the power you can muster? I shall show you real power! Thousand Spears!"

The thunder and lighting from the heavens stopped for a second before thousands of black bolts of thunder rained from above the Digimon, crashing into them and causing the flying Digimon to fall a short distance. Cherubimon grabbed Korikakumon and KendoGarurumon and tossed them at their comrades. They collided with Zephyrmon and Beetlemon before hitting the roof of a low tower. The fallen angel then called for another storm of lightning that hit the remaining Warriors that were trying to have slow their descent with their wings. The two then landed next to the others and Cherubimon again had the heavens unleash a storm of a thousand of spears from the heavens to hit the Digimon, causing them to de-evolve into their human forms.

He was about to do it again but several small crystals hit him with a burst of white energy. Ophanimon, struggling to fly correctly, stationed herself between the hurt humans and Cherubimon. "That is enough Cherubimon!" she cried. "Why do you continue to do this?"

"Out of the way, Ophanimon! I would rather not kill you!" the fallen angel growled in reply.

The turquoise angel didn't budge and held out her hands protectively, javelin and shield in hand.

"Move!" Cherubimon ordered again.

Below, the humans watched, surprised by what they were hearing. Why was Cherubimon refusing to continue?

"Do you think Cherubimon _likes_ Ophanimon?" the blonde asked.

"If that's the case, he has one _weird_ way of showing it," JP stated.

"Looks who's talking," Takuya quipped.

"Cherubimon, don't you remember when we were friends? We fought together to bring peace to the Digital World after Lucemon's fall and the Ancient Warriors were gone!" Ophanimon said, her features and voice soft. "Why do you wish to destroy it?"

"This world has nothing to offer us beast Digimon!" Cherubimon shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at the angel. "I have watched you favor your precious humanoid Digimon and leave the beast Digimon with little! I have overheard Seraphimon and you saying conspiring against me!"

"No, Cherubimon, we have never said such cruel things! I do admit Seraphimon does tend to favor the humanoid Digimon but I try to make it so that both get a equal rule," she answered, her voice wavering pitifully. "My friend, Seraphimon and I were worried about you as you had grown distant and angry."

"Lies!"

"No, I'm telling the truth! Please, return to what you once were!"

Cherubimon narrowed his eyes. "You wish for me to return to that sniveling and passive being I once was? I'm stronger than I ever was! If you keep defying me, I shall destroy you Ophanimon, even if we were once friends." To prove his point, the fallen angel called on a spear and threw it right over her head towards the tower behind her, opposite where the humans were. "I shall make a world where no Digimon is unequal!"

"Cherubimon, please! You're only destroying our world!"

The humans, noting that Cherubimon was far from wanting to be saved, Spirit Evolved into their highest forms to help combat the raging angel.

Cherubimon called upon his Thousand Spears and the Warriors and Ophanimon countered with their own various attacks that destroyed the spears. The great angel flew towards her Warriors and inquired, "May you distract Cherubimon while I purify him?"

"But, how can you save someone that doesn't want to be saved?" Velgemon shouted, rather annoyed by Ophanimon's request.

"I have to try to save my dear friend as I cannot bear to lose another. Koichi, I know you felt the same not too long ago," she responded. "I beg of you!"

"We'll see what we can do," Zephyrmon called, joining attacks with KendoGarurumon in an attempt to blind him. Aldamon went from a different angle to shoot fireballs at the giant rabbit. From the ground, MetalKabuterimon unleashed a Bolo Thunder that combined with Korikakumon's tomahawks and hit Cherubimon low in the stomach.

Ophanimon flew past her companions and towards her old friend, hands shinning with white light that channeled her naïve hopes. The attacks did what they were intended and allowed the turquoise angel to reach the fallen one. By the time Ophanimon was before him, Cherubimon couldn't escape.

"Please," she whispered, placing her hands on Cherubimon. "Remember who you once were…" The light in her palms spread across the black angel like a blanket, small screams echoed off the castle. When the light faded, Cherubimon had changed to a soft white and cream color-scheme, with soft features and round black eyes. The Warriors stood in awe.

_Is __this __what __she __did __to __me __to __help __Koichi __save __me?_ Koji thought.

Ophanimon lifted her hands and backed away from her changed friend. The new Cherubimon looked at his hands in absolute wonder before looking back up at his old friend. "I am…saved?" he breathed.

The six Warriors joined Ophanimon, all just as astounded at the miracle that she preformed. "Yes," she answered, "Cherubimon, you are back to normal."

"_No, __back __to __being __weak.__" _Cherubimon's eyes widened, as if he came to a realization and the angelic face morphed into one of hate and anger. "NO!" he screamed. A blast of black aura consumed him and caused them to be blasted away a short distance. He summoned a spear of lightning and threw it at the turquoise angel, who blocked it with her javelin. Cherubimon then summoned multiple spears and threw them at her, keeping Ophanimon in a defensive position.

KendoGarurumon and Velgemon intervened and destroyed two spears while the other Warriors turned Cherubimon's attention towards them. Cherubimon growled. "Fine, you shall be the first to die."

Cherubimon raised a hand in the air, calling forth a large sphere of data from his castle and scanning the data from it. Lightning crackled from the heavens, larger than before and struck the Hybrids with enough force to make them, once again revert to their human forms once they landed on the ground.

"And know, the miniscule gnats shall be gone! Terminal Judgment!"

"Eden's Javelin!"

The beam of light re-directed the attack away from the humans and Ophanimon flew into battle, all childish hope gone, leaving a Valkyrie behind. "I am your opponent, Cherubimon! If you wish to bring the Digital World's destruction, I shall no longer stand for it!"

Below, the humans were trying to get to their feet. Takuya, who had obtained several bruises and scrapes, tried to see who was alive and still able to walk. Whipping away blood from a shallow cut above his eye, he raced over to help Zoe up. "You okay?" he asked, grabbing her arm as she tried to stand but the blonde cried out in pain.

"M-my arm…I think it's broken," she answered, trying to move her stiff fingers but gaining no response from them.

"Can you stand?" the brunet asked, receiving a nod from the Warrior of Wind. As soon as she stood, he went over and helped Tommy to his feet. "Does anything hurt?" The little boy shook his head but when he tried to stand, he winced and leaned against the boy in goggles. Takuya frowned before looking at the other three on his team, noting JP had gained a few bruises and had a lump on the side of his head from the fall but still seemed to be able to walk. Koichi had only gotten a few scrapes and bruises as well but clutched a sprained wrist. Koji, however, was perfectly all right.

Takuya blinked. "How are you all right after that fall, Koji?" he asked.

The boy just shrugged in response. "I guess I'm a little bit tougher than you."

"All right, boys, now's not the time to be funny," Zoe cut in. "We need to help Ophanimon."

"What exactly can we do?" Koichi asked. "Tommy looks like he can't even walk. As Velgemon, I might have a hard time flying and Zoe, I'm not too sure how well you can use any of your wind attacks."

"Well, we can't just run either," Takuya sighed, looking upwards. "I guess we'll just have to trust Ophanimon to—." He stopped short and his eyes widened in horror as feathers sailed gently down from above. The other humans looked up, gasping as their eyes took in the sight of an impaled angel, stuck to the end of a black spear. Cherubimon allowed a sadistic smile of triumph to spread across his face before dropping the spear that held the angel. The humans hurriedly got out of the way as the angel crashed into the earth with a magnificent boom.

The humans hesitated in approaching the angel who had landed spreadeagle on the ground. Tommy was the first staggered to her side, the others following suit. They were left in shocked silence. It took several minutes for the children's brains to process this new event before they were finally affected, leaving them with a feeling of great loss and helplessness.

Zoe broke out into tears, remembering how Seraphimon had fallen for their weakness and how Sorcerymon had sacrificed himself so they would escape from the Crystal Castle…_Why__another?_ JP closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears back. Why hadn't they had enough strength to finish off Cherubimon in the first place?

Tommy's eyes welled with tears as he clung to Takuya. This was the third time he had seen death and it hurt, hurt so bad. The elder brunet placed a hand on the boy's hat as he sniffed, feeling inadequate. Koichi adverted his eyes, feeling weaker. He had no control in losing his grandmother and he had done nothing to help the others that had died to save them and now, there was Ophanimon who was dying before them. They had the Spirits but why were they so weak?

Koji just stood in silence, his face void of a reaction. _Cherubimon __was __far __from __saving,_ he thought, _just __as __I __was__…__her __nativity __was __her __down fall__…_

"Children…" the great angel gasped, raising a hand as her body began to unravel into Fractal Code. "Please…don't give up hope…"

"But, how can we?" JP was quick to snap. "We're all that's left and we barely even dented that freak!"

"The strongest thing you have…is each other…" A faint smile graced her face. "Takuya…Koji…please come hither…"

The two boys walked closer to the dying angel and she asked them to take out their D-tectors. "Unity…is something you…all have…" Ophanimon said, her voice raspy. A small light from her hand moved to the two D-tectors and they began to change. "Cherubimon…has lost sight…and…there is no way to make him…see…Please, use my last gift and…save…"

"We will," Takuya promised quickly, tears starting to drop from his eyes. "We'll defeat Cherubimon and save the Digital World!"

"I am…glad," she whispered, her body turning into a black silhouette, "I called you…" She never got farther. Ophanimon's data ring flew up to Cherubimon, leaving behind a white egg that disappeared into the distance.

The great angel Ophanimon was gone.

The humans stood in silence for a few minutes. Koji clenched his new D-tector, it had gained a gold frame around the screen and the white was replaced with a dark blue. His eyes turned up towards Cherubimon, a burning anger filling him. The Warrior of Light barely knew Ophanimon but she had help save him and his comrades from Cherubimon. Her death only added to the sins that Koji swore he'd never forgive the great fallen angel for.

"Know what do we do?" Tommy asked through tears.

"We use unity to bring that bastard down," Takuya answered.

"What gift has sweet Ophanimon left behind?" Cherubimon taunted, glaring down at them with gleaming yellow eyes. "We shall finish this now, humans."

"Our unity?" Koichi asked aloud, "how are we even able to use that?"

"If only we had Bokomon!"

"We can't panic now, guys!"

"Then you have any ideas what we can do, huh, Zoe?"

"GUYS! Shut up for a second!" The children looked over at Takuya as he stared at his newly evolved D-tector. "We…have to look inside ourselves for the answer…Ophanimon said it's within our unity…"

Zoe, JP, Tommy, and Koichi pulled out their D-tectors and tried thinking of something. Unity…friendship…

What if…?

"That's it," Takuya said, closing his eyes.

"If we think as one," JP began, resting his D-tector against his forehead.

"—and bring our feelings together," continued Zoe, hand gripping her heart.

"—and simply believe," Tommy added, pulling his D-tector close.

"—we'd have true unity." Koichi placed a hand over his D-tector

The six humans opened their eyes, transferring Spirits to Takuya and Koji's D-tectors. Wind, Ice, Wood, and Earth to Flame. Steel, Water, Thunder, and Darkness to Light. With this, the devices' screens began to radiate colors and the symbols of the taken in Spirits in a hexagonal pattern with Fire and Light at the top of their respective hexagons.

Takuya and Koji held up the D-tectors, screaming, "Unified Spirit Evolution!" Data swirled and consumed them; a power far surpassing the Fusion Evolution flew through their veins, bringing a new energy to the worn Warriors. Armor much thicker than any they had worn in previous evolutions covered them from head to toe, inheriting the defensive elements strengths while weapons that they now carried held the power of each respective offensive element. When the two new Warriors stepped out of the data cocoons, they announced themselves as EmperorGreymon, a humanoid Digimon that was covered in thick crimson and gold armor that carried a large claymore sword, and MagnaGarurumon, a lupine-jet hybrid Digimon that carried several guns. Then, the two rose into the air, faster than any of the others had.

This newfound power was enough to surprise Cherubimon. He attempted in shooting them down with his arrows but MagnaGarurumon was too quick for them and EmperorGreymon easily twirled his sword to stop them. The lupine Digimon fired missiles at the fallen angel, forcing him to turn his attention to the new threat.

Meanwhile, the red Digimon charged his sword with energy. "Koji, out of the way!" he called just when he had enough stored. MagnaGarurumon flew out of the way just as EmperorGreymon fired the energy at the fallen angel, blasting him into the castle. The two Warriors went into follow him but were forced to retreat as he flew back out, angrily firing several bolts of lightning at them. A few skimmed the Warriors' armor but they managed to make it out unscathed.

"What is this?" Cherubimon growled. "You're not supposed to be this strong."

"Well, this is just how it works," MagnaGarurumon said, pointing a gun at him and firing it at Cherubimon's left arm.

"We deal it, you take it, end of story," added EmperorGreymon, flying in and slashing Cherubimon across the chest.

The fallen angel backed up several yards, one hand gripping his left arm. Why were they so strong? Was this Ophanimon's gift? He narrowed his eyes. _I __can__'__t __lose __here. __I__'__ve __worked __too __hard __for __that!_ Cherubimon's eyes fell down to the humans and a wicked grin crossed his face. Humans were _really_ predictable.

"What'cha staring at?" EmperorGreymon demanded. "Finally ready to back down, Cherubimon?"

"Not yet," he answered, the large smirk running shivers down Koji's spine.

"Takuya, be ready!" he cautioned and the two did. When they heard him call for the attack, they were ready to dodge. However, the attack wasn't aimed at them but for their defenseless friends.

Without thought, MagnaGarurumon raced against the spears, his speed matching and then overshooting the spears just in time to take a direct hit. Pain welled all over but it didn't feel like it was from his body; no, it felt more like it was from his soul. When he thought the one barrage was over, a second one came crashing down on him, sending him crashing into the earth where he was pelted for what seemed like an eternity. Something gave, almost as if he was unraveling as the pain increased. Far off cries were all that he could hear. Undistinguishable yells. Blotches of white covered his vision. Pain, excurciating pain. All he wanted was for it to end.

Somewhere, the pain decreased into numbness that rung throughout his body and his vision came back but feeling hadn't. Soon, Koji could distinguish voices as well. "Koji!" he heard the startled and worried tones of his friends.

The four sat around his figure, worry and fear raising in their stomachs as they watched his figure become faint, as if he was a ghost that was disappearing. "Koji, please, answer me!" Koichi cried, his features scrunched and pained at what had just taken place. _Please, __please, __no!_

"Say something!" Tommy screamed, shaking Koji's still tangible body and almost just as unwilling to lose another comrade as Koichi.

"Come on!" JP shouted, standing over him.

"Koji!" called Zoe. "Can you get up?" She turned her eyes upwards, worried. "Someone has to help Takuya."

"I can still fight," Koji said but it came out weak and broken. He tried raising but he automatically fell back.

"No, you can't," JP argued. "You took that hit for us!"

"I can…" the Warrior of Light attempted to argue but even with his willpower, he couldn't grab the sand that was slipping away. Facing this reality, Koji had no choice but to accept it. He was a goner. "You're right, JP," he admitted, turning his head. "I can't fight."

"Koji, are you going to die, like Ophanimon?" asked the youngest brunet.

"I don't think I have a choice…"

Zoe suddenly gave a gasp, noticing that Koji's figure was starting to turn a bright blue and was beginning to fade at an even quicker pace. "W-what's going on?" she shrieked fearfully.

"I…guess this is what happens when we humans die in the Digital World," Koji answered before closing his eyes momentarily and turning his gaze towards his twin. "I'm sorry for everything I've done, Koichi. I…have so many things that I want to do now that I've met you but…it seems like fate isn't so kind…"

"No, Koji, please, don't say that," Koichi begged, fighting hard to keep his tears back. "You c-can't die here!"

"Please, Koichi, fight in my stead," the Warrior of Light continued, features becoming soft. "And…have a good life."

In a shimmer of light, Koji disappeared, as if he had never been there. The four humans were left horrified and scared. Another death, another someone they couldn't save.

Koichi stared at his hands, millions of emotions racing through his mind. No…no, no, no, no! "KOJI!" he screamed. So much…there was so much he wanted to know and say and do. That chance was now gone.

_Cherubimon._ A burning hate combusted in his being. _Cherubimon __caused __all __this. __He __took __Strabimon __from __me __and __now __Koji._ "It ends here," the Warrior of Darkness seethed, grabbing his brother's fallen D-tector that had somehow survived the fall and left his comrades. All that was on his mind was vengeance.

Thrusting his hand into the air, he screamed, "Unified Spirit Evolution!" Power poured over him, mixing with his anger and hate, changing the form of the evolution and, instead, became ThantosDemon, a large animal-like demon with wings similar to Velgemon's and armor that looked just like a skeleton with a lethal tail and talons and had several red gemstones embedded all over its body. Yellow eyes fixed on Cherbumimon and EmperorGreymon before he took off, kicking up a dust cloud with the flap of his wings.

He flew behind Cherubimon and called out, "Hell Decay!" and unleashed several spirit-like entities at the fallen angel, which wrapped around him like a chain and began burning his skin.

EmperorGreymon, startled by the new Digimon, wasn't sure if this was a good thing or bad but either way took advantage of it, ramming into Cherubimon with his sword piercing his right shoulder. The two crashed into the castle and into a room with ThantosDemon following close behind.

The red Digimon was knocked away and Cherubimon pulled the sword from his shoulder and bared it before him. "I shall not let you stand in my way!" he screamed.

"This is the end, Cherubimon!" seethed ThantosDemon, clenching his fist.

Takuya was startled by the voice; it sounded so much like Koichi…yet also unlike him. Could this really be Koichi under that armor? If so, what angered him to this extent?

"Hades Redemption!" Twin axes formed in his hands before he wildly swung them as he ran forwards only for it to be parried by the sword in Cherubimon's hands. ThantosDemon's eyes narrowed as he glared at his brother's killer. "You will pay for what you did!"

"I shall not lose!"

All EmperorGreymon could do was watch in horror as things continued. Shades oozed from the gemstones on ThantosDemon, consuming and burning Cherubimon. The screams rang through the room, making Takuya shiver. What was Koichi doing? This had to stop!

The red Digimon ran over to his friend to try and pull him off Cherubimon but the spirits recoiled and attacked him, causing EmperorGreymon to draw away in surprise and fear. However, what scared him even more was the gleeful look on his friend's face, as if he _enjoyed_ Cherubimon's wailing.

"Koichi! Stop this!" Takuya shouted but he didn't stop.

The shades kept oozing out and weakened the fallen angel, allowing the force holding the sword up to falter just enough for it to be knocked out of the way. ThantosDemon raised the axes above his head, ready to strike and deal the final blow.

"KOICHI!" the red Warrior yelled, grabbing the axes and ignoring the pain that brought with touching the shades, "Stop! You've gone too far!"

Koichi looked down at the pitiful angel. He was beyond hurt, his data unraveling and showing.

"Koichi, it's over," EmperorGreymon said in a soft voice. The mad gleam in ThantosDemon disappeared along with the axes. Seeing that he was relaxed, EmperorGreymon let his hand go and both appendages dropped to either sides of the demon.

The red Digimon turned his attention towards Cherubimon. "It's over."

He pulled out his D-tector and scanned the data, feeling rather empty about the victory. They had won, but, as he could tell, at a dear price. As he watched the egg that was left behind disappear, Takuya hoped that something good would come of it.

**Chapter 29: End.**

**Ah, well, here we are! Next chapter is the end! Just go and read it.**


	31. Chapter 30: Remaining Innocent

**A/N: Thank you Impstar, Martiny, Immortal Fallen Radiance, and Asarikou-chan for reviewing. Thank you everyone for the fourty-six people who favourited this, the fifty-one people who added this to their Alerts, the two who put this in communities, and you for reading and those who have read this after its completion.**

**And, so, it all comes to an end. This chapter's title is inspired by the first Frontier ending: Innocent by Kouji Wada. Finishing completing this chapter made me want to listen to it, funnily enough. The title also leaves a kind of ironic taste in my mouth, though.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.**

**A Changed Destiny**

Chapter 30: Remaining Innocent

Bokomon, Neemon, and Patamon had sat where their human companions had left them. Worry had easily set in as they were too far to see the children's fight but still close enough to hear the screams, booms, and the crashes of thunder. The three sat in a half circle, Patamon lying on Bokomon's lap, giving off the occasional shivers.

"Don't worry," the gnome comforted the little Digimon. "They'll be back all in one piece."

"Something scary is out there," whimpered Patamon, shrinking back fearfully.

"That's probably Cherubimon!" Neemon said, picking his nose.

"No," Patamon responded, his ears flattening against his head. "There's something scarier. Papamon, please don't let it get me."

Bokomon stood and picked the little Digimon up before giving him a warm smile. "Now, don't you worry! Takuya and the others are going to take care of this scarier thing and it'll be okay!" he comforted and this put the small Digimon at ease. Patamon then snuggled into a hug from his surrogate mother/father.

When he turned his vision back to the castle, he caught the image of two Digimon flying towards them. The three Rookie Digimon prepared to hid if the two that were headed their way were servants of Cherubimon however, as they got closer, Bokomon spotted familiar blobs of color being carried by the two Digimon, one was black and the other crimson.

The two Digimon landed and Bokomon, Neemon, and Patamon's assumptions were proven to be correct when they saw the two new Digimon allow Zoe, Tommy, and JP to step onto the ground. Joy filled the three as they raced towards them but all joy vanished as they noted that the faces of the Warriors were vacant of it.

"What's with the long faces?" Bokomon asked, curious as the two Digimon de-evolved into Takuya and Koichi. Neemon was the first to notice the missing human and he was quick to ask about it. The humans in response looked away, somber expressions on their faces. Koichi himself flinched at the question and clenched his hands into fists. Takuya walked over to the two Digimon and knelt down so he was eye level with the Digimon. "Koji…died," he explained, his expression full of regret. "He took an attack from Cherubimon and…"

"I see," Bokomon answered, placing a hand on the Warrior of Fire. "The ancient legends said that the fight against Lucemon didn't come without a price."

"That's a terrible way to make someone feel better," Takuya scowled.

"Well, it was worth a shot," Bokomon answered.

X::::::::::X

After dressing wounds and making surrogate slings, Takuya and Koichi used their new forms to travel to the gates of the Dark Continent over the course of several days before they could find a Trailmon. With it, they traveled for a little over two weeks to get to the Fire Terminal. That space of time had been mainly passed in silence but the humans did attempt to talk save Koichi, who simply turned away whoever was trying to talk to him and then move to the other side of the car.

This left Takuya worried one morning as the fruition of his attempt came up with the same ending. The Warrior of Fire returned to his friends, a frown on his face.

"Another failed attempt?" JP asked. "Maybe you should just let his have some space?"

The boy with goggles was rather appalled by the suggestion. "I can't just do that, JP," he answered rather hotly.

The Warrior of Thunder held up his hands to show that he didn't want to start a fight. "We can't force ourselves at him, Takuya," he explained. "Sometimes, people have to mourn on their own before we attempt to reach out to them. If we try to keep doing as we do, the consequences can be disastrous."

The Warrior of Flame frowned, still not so keen on the idea, but relented and sat back down.

X::::::::::X

The Trailmon arrived at night in the outskirts of the Flame Terminal, dropping off the humans and three Digimon before they continued, arriving at Bokomon's home. Sadly, however, it was too small for the humans to stay in so they decided to sleep under the star with leaf beds and with a dinner of meat apples.

"It's been such a long time since we've had these," Tommy said, munching into one.

"Yeah, but I'm going to be glad to finally be able to cook some real food," Zoe said, a smile on her face, "once I get home, of course."

"Speaking of home, how long do you think we've been gone?" JP asked. "You think that they have cops looking for us?"

Takuya smiled. "Most likely. Mom's going to kill me once I return home," he said, laughing a little. "I deserve it, though. I can't wait to see her, dad, and Shinya."

"Me neither," the blonde agreed. "I haven't really thought about how much I've missed my mom and dad until now. We were just so caught up in danger and running! It feels so strange to be returning home."

"I'd say it's rather comforting," JP said. "I mean, it's nice and all to be able to turn into Digimon and stuff but I like to sleep in a soft bed and not have to forage for some good grub."

Tommy laughed. "I'm going to give my mom and dad a big kiss once I return! And hug my brother!" he declared. "Yutaka would be so surprised if I did that! What are you guys going to do when you get home?"

"I know for one thing, I'm going to the store and buying a hundred bars of milk chocolate!" JP answered, a big grin on his face. "It's been so long since I've had chocolate."

"Then you'd better share it!" Takuya said, jokingly pointing a stick at the boy in blue. "We _all_ deserve some chocolate! Make sure it's the dark chocolate!"

"Dark chocolate?" The boy in blue stuck out his tongue in disgust. "That stuff is nasty! Milk chocolate is so much better!"

"I don't know about you guys but white chocolate trumps both of them," Zoe said.

"There isn't any taste to white chocolate!" JP argued.

"Almond chocolate is good!" Tommy jumped in.

For the rest of the night, it went like that, the four telling joyous stories or having fun little debates. Koichi, refused to join in, disgusted by what they were doing and turning in. When the children finally joined him, it was late.

Despite how late it was, Takuya found himself restless and so, he raised, eyes turned towards the village. Getting up, he found a leaf and Bokomon's pencil that he had left out and wrote a message down, saying he'd meet them at the Trailmon station at daybreak, when they had decided to head for home. With that, he left. He couldn't tell exactly where he was going, as the village was dark. Instead, he just followed his instincts and it brought him to a flight of stairs and he descended down them, arriving in a rather large room lit and warmed by columns of controlled fire. He turned his head and noticed a circular platform, quite similar to the one where he had gotten the Human Spirit of Fire. A nostalgic smile crossed his face.

Months ago, he had been a reckless hothead, naïve to responsibility and consequences. Here, he had gotten his first Spirit. That time, so long ago, seemed almost like a hazy dream and the truth that he was now going home was almost unreal. Maybe he was still fighting Mercurymon or barely beginning his journey.

_No,_ Takuya told himself. _I__'__m __really __going __home._

It seemed almost quaint that he should return here, like a round ending to a TV show. He was now changed, different from that naïve child who just followed a strange lady because of a "game." Now he new the "game" was never really one, though it took him one near death experience to finally understand that. The ruse was cruel one on Ophanimon's part but the angel was desperate and calling it a game had done better to spark curiosity than simply stating that it was a perilous journey. Of course, children would fall for it, hook, line, and sinker.

With nothing else to do, Takuya just stood in tranquil silence, almost falling asleep while standing up until he heard someone at the doorframe.

"Knock knock," Zoe said, walking in. "Takuya, the Trailmon is here."

"Oh," he said, turning towards her.

"Is this the room where you fought Cerebusmon?" she asked.

"I don't know. It's changed."

The blonde smiled. "You've really changed as well. We all have."

The brunet nodded in agreement before the two walked out of the room, going to join their friends.

X::::::::::X

The ride back was full of talking and exchanging of phone numbers and addresses. Koichi gave his but his mind was else where, reflecting over the event that took his brother's life. Now that he had killed Cherubimon, he felt rather hollow. What was he to do now? Simply live life as if it never happened?

His eyes turned to the window where all he could see was the darkness brought by the tunnel they were traveling in. Was there anything he could have done to stop Cherubimon? He played over several situations in his head but each time came with the same outcome.

No, he couldn't. This had been planned out since the beginning. Their destinies had been changed in the form of the Spirits, both condemned, one to life and the other to death. His eyes closed. If only he could have changed destiny, things might have been different but there was nothing he could do now. There was no way to turn back the sands of time; the hourglass was glued to the table. Destiny was a cruel mistress.

**Chapter 30: End.**

**A Changed Destiny: Fin.**

**It's all over, so, how many of you want to throw rotten tomatoes at me? Well, feel free to save those for a later date as I'm going to continue the story with a sequel: _Fate__'__s__Legacy_. It'll cover the last arc and "set things right," complete character arcs, and hold more twists and explanations about various things. However, I most likely won't start that until I'm finished with _In__the__Light__of__the__Fading__Moon,_ as I still have to plan _FL_. Also, there's a poll up on my profile. I would like to know which story (_Legendary__Ten_ or _Fallen__World_) you guys would like me to write along with them. FW is going to be rewritten and LT would continue from chapter 1.**

**Thank you everyone for sticking with me through this story and I hope you will stick with me in the sequel. =)**

**+Kaito Lune+**


	32. Extra Chapter: Moments After the End

**Extra Chapter: After the End**

**Moment 1**

The boy found himself in utter darkness. He was unsure where he was but he knew it was strikingly familiar. Eyes scanned the area, half-expecting something to appear.

Nothing did and so, the boy was left in silence and his own thoughts. This didn't comfort him and so, he walked in hopes of finding someone or something. How long he walked, the boy was uncertain but in the distance, he could see something. Hope filled his stomach and the boy raced towards it, finding a strange young woman almost floating in the air, as if suspended in water.

The boy blinked and asked her a question.

She answered. A name. The woman's face then became grim as she further communicated with him. In turn, the boy's face became a cross between concern and anger. He asked her something, determination burning in his eyes.

She responded and offered him a hand and gave him two options. The boy didn't hesitate in deciding and he quickly jutted his hand out, grabbing hers. The woman nodded and there was a flash of light that consumed the two. Then, they were gone.

**Moment 2**

The amethyst eyes blinked worriedly as they gazed at the crystal wall; this was a mess and, for once, it was one that she didn't make. Normally, she used her powers to toy with things but eventually, she made things right (of course, most of the time, it was her big brother that forced her to do so). Everything had been much darker than she thought could happen, rather, suppose to happen.

The strange little girl rolled over onto her stomach before looking at her pale blue hands. _Can __we __really __cause __this __much __destruction?_ she thought.

She sat up suddenly. No more was she going to be such a child! No more will she have others pick up her mess! _Here, __I__'__m __going __to __start __taking __responsibility __for __all __this __chaos!_ The little girl jumped to her feet, eyes fixed on a diamond mask.

_I__'__ll __start __by __finding __my __big __brother,_ she thought. _I __think __I __just __might __know __where __he __disappeared __to._ Her eyes fell on a different screen, a black mass attacking a fairly familiar blue-eyed boy. She grinned. It was time she did what she knew best: play a game.

**Extra Chapter: End.**

**What is the point of these? Simple: to set up for the sequel with various points, kind of like the hook movies leave after the credits, hinting at a sequel movie. One makes sense for now but the other won't make sense until later, though this point won't be in Fate's Legacy but in a different story all together that may or may not be updated here since it's a story I was going to do for Team Dragon Star. I completed the first chapter but I haven't seen them post it yet…**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed these teasers. =)**


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